GREENSBORO, N.C. – The second seeded College of Charleston softball team walked off with a 3-2 win over No. 3 Georgia Southern on Friday morning to once again avoid elimination and extend their Southern Conference Championship lives.
The loss was the Eagles' first of the double-elimination tournament, so the teams will square off once again on Friday at 3 p.m. with the winner advancing to the winner-take-all championship game.
CofC (37-19) has now won 37 games in each of the past three seasons and now has an 11-2 record in elimination games over the past three SoCon tournaments.
The Cougars rallied from behind to erase an early Eagle lead, and Ashton Jarrett (Hanahan, S.C.) drove in the walk-off run with her tournament-leading eighth hit which scored Rebecca Mueller (Fair Oaks, Calif.) in the bottom of the seventh.
“This was a big win for us and an entire team effort,” said head coach Shelly Hoerner. “Executing in key situations was huge today. We got on base any way we could and in the last inning we cashed the runner in after executing a bunt. It's about doing the little things.
“We never stopped believing and the will is more powerful than the skill. That was huge for us.”
Mueller went two-for-two with two doubles in the contest and was hit by a pitch as well as the freshman scored two of the three Cougar runs. She has now reached base in 21 consecutive games.
“I was seeing the ball well and it was my chance to take advantage of it which I did, so I felt good about that today,” said Mueller. “We were really good at executing and taking advantage today. I'm so happy our offense pulled through for our pitcher.”
Senior Kristy Giragosian (Charlotte, N.C.) drove in a pair of runs with a clutch two-out single which got the Cougars back into the game in the second inning. The right fielder also threw a runner out at the plate to preserve the tie in the fourth inning.
“As an outfielder you're always looking for a slow roller and a throw to the plate so I was ready for that ball to come to me,” said Giragosian. “I wanted to back up my pitcher who was throwing a great game so I went all out for it.”
Sophomore Hope Klicker (Walla Walla, Wash.) entered the game in the third inning and threw five scoreless innings to earn her third win in two days. With the win, Klicker became only the fifth 20-game winner in CofC history. Klicker allowed four hits and struck out four hitters, all of which were done in the sixth inning.
The Eagles posted the early lead when Alexa Lewis led off the game with a groundball single on which second baseman Ashton Jarrett (Hanahan, S.C.) made a diving play to keep the ball in the infield, but there was no way to throw out the speedy Lewis in time. The Cougars looked to get out of the inning after an interference call and force out at second base, but Shelby Morrill drove a homerun ball beyond the fence in right to give GSU an early 2-0 lead.
The Cougar response came in the bottom of the second when Chandler Frisbie (Lawrenceville, Ga.) led off with a hard-hit single through the left side to represent the first Cougar base runner. Eagle pitcher and SoCon Pitcher of the Year Sarah Purvis forced the next two Cougars to fly out harmlessly, but with two outs Mueller doubled over the head of the right fielder to extend the inning and put two runners in scoring position. Giragosian worked a full count and spoiled a pair of potential third strikes before driving her two-out, two-RBI game-tying single into left field.
“As a hitter I knew I needed to be selective and wait for my pitch,” said Giragosian. “I was trying to stay calm and in my element and knew to wait for my pitch and drive it.”
Both teams put a runner on base in the third inning but neither side could translate it into runs as the score remained 2-2 through the middle innings of the contest.
The Eagles nearly took the lead back in the fourth when Kaitlyn Johnson drew a one-out walk and advanced to second base on an ensuing groundout. Savannah Coon entered the game as a pinch hitter and sent a would-be go-ahead single to right, but Giragosian gunned Johnson down at the plate with Mackenzie Maples (Corona, Calif.) athletically blocking the plate and applying the inning-ending tag.
CofC also threatened in its half of the fourth with Mueller's second double of the game and Giragosian nearly scoring her again, but a diving catch in left field robbed Giragosian of the hit and the Cougars of the lead.
Both teams would strand a runner in the sixth inning with Klicker striking out four hitters in the top half of the inning after one reached on a swinging strike-three on a drop ball in the dirt.
In the bottom of the seventh, Mueller was hit by a pitch and Giragosian executed the sacrifice bunt to move Mueller into scoring position. With two outs and another extra-inning game looming, Jarrett slapped a ball into the hole in left and Mueller rounded third and scored ahead of the throw to cap off the win.
