BUIES CREEK, N.C. - The College of Charleston softball team opened its season by splitting a doubleheader with Campbell on Tuesday evening at the Eakes Athletic Complex.
CofC (1-1) dominated the opening game en route to a 7-1 victory but allowed Campbell (4-2) to spark a late rally and steal a 3-2 victory in the second game.
GAME ONE: CofC: 7, Campbell: 1
The Cougars rallied to a 7-1 victory in the opening game by putting two on the board in the first and adding insurance runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Alexa Datko (San Diego, Calif.) went the distance in the pitching circle and didn't allow an earned run. She held the Camels to four hits and struck out eight in the game.
The Cougars got started right away when Carly Corthell (Reno, Nev.) and Lizzy Vaughn (Placerville, Calif.) both reached on bunts, leaving runners on first and second with no outs for Kristi Woodall (Hunterville, N.C.). Woodall capitalized by ripping a line-drive single into right field and scoring Corthell all the way from second. Later in the inning, a two-out Camel error plated Vaughn, putting CofC up 2-0.
In the Camels' half of the first, Sarah Forgacs reached first on a catcher's interference call and stole second base before advancing to third on Christina Melton's infield single. Forgacs then scored on a double steal which got Melton tagged out in a run down.
The Cougars' 2-1 lead held until they were able to add some insurance in the top of the third. Woodall reached on an error and Katie Pesature (Brewster, N.Y.) crushed a double down the left-field line to spark a one-out rally. In the next at bat, Amanda Lonergan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) sent a towering shot deep over the American flag in dead center field to put CofC up 5-1.
The Cougars added another run in the top of the fourth when Kristy Giragosian (Charlotte, N.C.) drew a lead-off walk, moved up to second on a sacrifice by Corthell and ultimately scored on Vaughn's RBI groundout.
CofC built upon its lead for the third consecutive inning when Pesature sent the first pitch of the top of the fifth over the left field fence for a solo home run.
After the first inning, Datko allowed just two hits and five total base runners en route to the complete-game win.
GAME TWO: Campbell: 3, CofC: 2
In the second game, the Cougars surrendered a lead late in the game to fall by a 2-1 margin. The Cougars led until the bottom of the sixth when the Camels put together a two-run rally to take the lead by the eventual final, 3-2.
Stephanie Saylors (Easley, S.C.) was tagged with the loss in the game despite delivering a strong outing. She pitched all six innings for CofC and allowed three earned runs on three hits and just seven base runners. Saylors struck out six in the game.
Courtney Clark (Tampa, Fla.) led the way offensively in the second game, going 2-for-3 and scoring a run.
In the bottom of the first, the Camels took their first lead of the day when Keeli Michael led the inning off with a double to left center. She took third on an illegal pitch and later scored on a wild pitch.
The Cougars recaptured the lead in the top of the third inning when Clark led the inning with sharp-hit single up the middle and Kaitlyn White (Columbia, S.C.) doubled down the left-field line, moving Clark to third. The Camels looked to get out of the inning after recording consecutive outs but Vaughn drove in Clark in the next at bat and Woodall singled over third base, scoring White.
The Camels threatened in their half of the third with runners on first and second with one out but third-baseman Kelsey Hodgson (Woodstock, Ga.) made a fine play on a ground ball, stepped on third and threw to first for the inning-ending double play.
The bats were quieted as the temperatures fell until Campbell surged to live in the bottom of the sixth inning. Forgacs drew a one-out walk before Christina Melton smacked a line-drive triple to the right field fence to score Forgacs all the way from first. The next batter, Amanda Miller, reached on a bunt single to score the eventual game-winning run.
The Cougars will return to action this weekend and host the CofC Cougar Classic at Patriots Point from Friday, Feb. 18 to Sunday, Feb. 20. The Cougars will play against Akron, Canisius, East Tennessee State University, Towson and Morehead State as part of the weekend slate.
