College of Charleston
NC State
Softball Victorious over NC State
3/8/2012 1:07:00 AM | Softball
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston softball team split its Wednesday afternoon doubleheader with NC State at Patriots Point. The Cougars were downed, 2-1, in the opener but bounced back to claim the second in thrilling, come-from-behind, 11-inning fashion.
Hope Klicker (Walla Walla, Wash.) was the second-game hero in more ways than one as the Cougars grinded out a 3-2 11-inning thriller. The freshman pitched all 11 innings and held the Wolfpack to nine hits while striking out five. She helped herself earn the win in the pitching circle when she homered off the foul pole in left in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings.
Kristy Giragosian (Charlotte, N.C.) drove in the winning run with two outs in the 11th when she sent a ball deep into the gap in right center with a runner on third.
GAME ONE: CofC: 1, NC State: 2
The Wolfpack claimed the early game behind strong pitching offered by Morgan Peeler who went the distance and limited the Cougars to one run and three hits.
Neither team could solve the opposing pitcher until NC State broke through in the fourth with a two-run home run off the bat of Bethaney Wells.
The Cougars cut the deficit in half in the sixth when Mackenzie Maples (Corona, Calif.) sent a hard-hit ball through the right side of the infield with Giragosian on third to cut the lead to 2-1 but the Cougars couldn't get any closer.
Stephanie Saylors (Easley, S.C.) was tagged with the loss for the Cougars despite only surrendering three hits and striking out eight in seven innings of work.
GAME TWO: CofC: 3, NC State: 2 (11 innings)
The Cougars had to battle back from another two-run deficit in the second game but this time managed to do so when they were down to their second to last out in the final inning.
Both teams' bats were mostly silent until the fifth inning when NC State put itself in a threatening position with an infield single and fielding error and Toni Ann Williford dropped a Texas-league bloop single into right field to score the run.
One inning later, the Wolfpack struck again when Landon Warren doubled to the wall in left field with two runners aboard to make the score 2-0.
That score held until the Cougars faced their final at bats in the seventh. Lonergan drew a walk to set the Cougars up and Klicker then crushed a high-fly ball down the leftfield line which eventually dinged off the foul pole to tie the game.
The teams virtually mirrored each other's production through the eighth, ninth and tenth with neither team able to plate a run. The teams applied the international tie breaker in the 10th which places a runner on second base to start each inning.
After holding NC State scoreless in this fashion twice, Ashton Jarrett (Hanahan, S.C.) was placed on second to start the 11th. After two quick outs, Jarrett took third on a wild pitch before Giragosian hammered a pitch into right center to bring the winning run to the plate.
ON DECK:
The Cougars concluded non-conference play and will open the Southern Conference season at Chattanooga this weekend. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 10 and a single-game series finale on Sunday, March 11.
