College of Charleston
Western Carolina
Cougars Shut Out Western Carolina In Senior Day Twinbill
5/1/2011 12:05:00 AM | Softball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston softball team shut out Western Carolina, 8-0 and 6-0, in an emotional Senior Day twinbill held Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point.
Five seniors were honored prior to the opening pitch including starting pitcher Alexa Datko (San Diego, Calif.), first baseman Katie Nutaitis (Vienna, Va.), catcher Katie Pesature (Brewster, N.Y.), shortstop Hillary Stringer (Summerville, S.C.) and centerfielder Kristi Woodall (Huntersville, N.C.).
Datko led the Cougars (31-17, 10-9 SoCon) to her eighth shutout of the season and improved to 16-6 in the circle with four strikeouts and allowing only three hits in seven innings in game one of the doubleheader versus the Catamounts (18-30, 3-17 SoCon). With the victory, CofC turned in its sixth all-time 30-win season, its first since posting a 33-33 mark in 2008.
Nutaitis and Stringer combined for three of the team's six runs in game one, while Pesature, Woodall and Stringer each had one run in the 8-0 mercy-rule win over WCU in game two. CofC has now won seven of its last eight contests.
"I thought we came out and played solid," CofC head coach Shelly Hoerner said. "Senior Day was pretty emotional, but we came out to play ball. Alexa (Datko) did a great job pitching the first game and set the tone. We took advantage of some of their mistakes, which is important. Overall, we hit the ball pretty well, played together as a team, and got two wins, which is what matters."
The Cougars will close out the WCU series tomorrow at 1 p.m. (ET) at Patriots Point. A live pay-per-view video webcast of the game will be available on CofCSports.tv and free live scoring at: www.CofCSports.com.
GAME #1: CofC 6, Western Carolina 0
After a scoreless two and a half innings, CofC got on the scoreboard first on an RBI double by freshman shortstop Lizzy Vaughn (Placerville, Calif.) which drove home Katie Nutaitis for the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third.
The Cougars scored three more runs in the fourth with two outs and two runners on as sophomore outfielder Kristy Giragosian (Charlotte, N.C.) drilled a base hit up the middle on a full-count pitch from WCU's Katie King to make it 3-0. Hillary Stringer followed with an RBI single to bring in Giragosian.
The Catamounts couldn't find an offensive answer against Alexa Datko who pitched a complete game with no walks and four strikeouts on Senior Day. CofC increased its lead with runs by Vaughn courtesy of an RBI single to right field from Katie Pesature in the fifth and Stringer in the sixth unearned.
GAME #2: CofC 8, Western Carolina 0
The Cougars once again capitalized on four Western Carolina errors, stole five bases and had a three-run fourth inning in an eight-run rule shutout of the Catamounts in game two.
Sophomore pitcher Stephanie Saylors (Easley, S.C.) was credited with the win and struck out four WCU batters to raise her record to 11-8 in the circle. Meanwhile, junior outfielder Katie Forbes (Odessa, Fla.) led CofC with a three RBI outing including a two-run homer in the first and a single in an error-prone second inning by the Catamounts. It marked her fifth home run of the season.
WCU managed only three hits in the ballgame, but couldn't convert it into runs as the Cougar defense, which turned in their 17th double play of the season in game one, made 15 putouts behind five each from Katie Pesature and Katie Nutaitis.
