College of Charleston
Furman
Softball Splits with Furman
4/9/2011 10:00:00 PM | Softball
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The College of Charleston softball team split its Saturday afternoon doubleheader with Furman at Pepsi Stadium in Southern Conference action. The Cougars claimed a 6-4 victory in the opener but fell, 4-3, in a 10-inning thriller in the second game.
The teams will play the series conclusion on Sunday, April 10 at 1 p.m.
After Saturday's play, the Cougars sit at 24-16 (4-9 SoCon) while Furman moves to 12-19 (6-5 SoCon).
The Cougars were fueled to victory in the opener by home runs from Katie Nutaitis (Vienna, Va.) and Kristi Woodall (Huntersville, N.C.). Alexa Datko (San Diego, Calif.) got the win with three strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work. Woodall's homerun was her third in as many games.
The Cougars rallied in the seventh to force extra innings in the second game but eventually fell when Furman plated the game winner in the tenth. Stephanie Saylors (Easley, S.C.) pitched the entire game and was tagged with the loss.
GAME ONE: CofC: 6, Furman: 4
The Cougars outhit the Paladins, 7-4, and received timely home runs from Nutaitis and Woodall to take the first game.
Furman took an early lead in the first with a two-run home run from Lauren Collier.
Nutaitis put CofC on top with one swing of the bat in the following inning after Kelsey Hodgson (Woodstock, Ga.) singled and Katie Pesature (Brewster, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch.
In the third, Carly Corthell (Reno, Nev.) singled and scored on Katie Forbes' (Odessa, Fla.) RBI sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 4-2.
In the sixth, Ashton Jarrett (Hanahan, S.C.) reached on a throwing error and Lizzy Vaughn (Placerville, Calif.) doubled to score her.
The Paladins showed signs of live in the bottom of the sixth and plated two runs on two hits and a fielding error but would get no closer.
Woodall's homerun in the seventh pushed the score to 6-4 and Saylors shut down the Paladins in order to preserve the win.
GAME TWO: CofC: 3, Furman: 4 (10 innings)
The Cougars rallied in the top of the seventh to tie the game and force extra innings but the Paladins erased the comeback with a game-winning run in the tenth inning.
The Cougars jumped on the Paladins early when Corthell singled to left field and stole second and moved to third on a Katie Forbes (Odessa, Fla.) single. Woodall then doubled to right center to bring both runs around and give CofC the early, 2-0, lead.
Furman responded in the bottom of the second with three consecutive hits to lead off the inning followed by a fourth later in the inning which resulted in three runs and a 3-2 Furman lead.
Both teams' offenses quieted through the middle innings until CofC plated a run in the seventh to extend the game. Corthell led off with a single again and Forbes brought her to the plate with an RBI, game-tying single.
Neither team could break the tie in the first two extra frames but the Paladins succeeded in the bottom of the tenth. With the international tiebreaker rule automatically placing a runner on second, Furman sacrificed her over to third and Jessie Homesley won the game with a single to right center.
