GREENSBORO, N.C. - The College of Charleston softball team dropped the final game of a three-game Southern Conference series with UNC Greensboro, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon at the UNCG Softball field.
With the loss, the Cougars drop to 18-10 (2-4 SoCon) while the Spartans improve to 11-12 (2-1 SoCon) and win the series after the teams split Saturday's doubleheader.
The Cougars were narrowly outhit, 7-8, in the contest but couldn't plate any runs in the loss.
Freshmen Carly Corthell (Reno, Nev.) and Lizzy Vaughn (Placerville, Calif.) were both 2-for-4 for the Cougars. Corthell is now on a five-game hit streak and has at least one hit in 20 of the Cougars' last 21 games. The Cougars started five freshmen in the starting lineup.
The Spartans got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when Kaitlin Merkt homered for her second time in the series with a runner aboard to move in front, 2-0.
Both offenses were silent until the bottom of the fifth when Merkt doubled off the top of the rightfield fence to put runners on second and third with two outs. Katelyn Bedwell then blooped a single into shallow left center which allowed both runners to score on the play.
The Cougars had at least one hit in every inning except for the fourth and fifth and loaded the bases twice but could not chip into UNCG's lead.
Jen Rosene (Charlotte, N.C.) was tagged with her first loss of the season and drops to 4-1. Alexa Datko (San Diego, Calif.) pitched 1.1 innings perfectly with a strikeout.
The Cougars return home and continue SoCon action when they host Georgia Southern in a three-game series at Patriots Point. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 26 and the series conclusion on Sunday, March 27.
