College of Charleston
Jacksonville State
Cougars Fall To Jacksonville State and No. 13 Missouri at Citrus Classic
2/21/2016 4:57:00 AM | Softball
ORLANDO, Fla. – The College of Charleston softball team fell to Jacksonville State, 6-4, and No. 13-ranked Missouri, 8-0, in six innings on Saturday at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The second day of the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic proved to be a challenging one for the Cougars (3-5), but there were many things to take away from the day.
“We saw some of the best pitching we may see all season today and I think we battled hard,” CofC junior infielder Dana Horgan said. “Today was certainly a learning experience and something I think we can draw from moving forward.”
Game One: Jacksonville State 6, CofC 4
The action kicked off on Saturday with a rematch from last weekend's tournament in Savannah, Ga. The Gamecocks (4-3) looked to avenge their previous one-run loss on Feb. 13, and gave the Cougars a challenge.
In the close loss, the Cougars presented a number of promising sights. Jordin Jones hit a sacrifice fly to allow Taylor DuPree to run home from third and Valerie Cassell hit a RBI single that brought home Sara Garcia in the top of the first.
The Gamecocks took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the third and Charleston would add two more runs in the top of the sixth to bring the game closer. But, after a two-run bottom of the sixth, CofC could not recover.
Valerie Cassell and Sara Garcia both recorded two hits for The College, and Samantha Martin struck out four over five innings.
Game Two: No. 13 Missouri 8, CofC 0
The Cougars' second game of the day proved to be even tougher one than the first, taking on No. 13 Missouri (4-0) which came into the game hot off a 12-5 win over UAB.
Missouri led off batting first and took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run. The College worked hard to erase that deficit, but ultimately could not, stranding two runners on base in the bottom of the first.
After allowing another Tigers run via a solo home run in the top of the third, the Cougars managed to get four more runners on base in the following two innings. They could not bring any of them across home plate, leaving them with no runs through four innings of play.
Over the course of the final two innings played, Missouri posted six runs. The College ended the game with eight runners left on base and recorded six hits, two apiece from Taylor DuPree and Rebecca Mueller. Three CofC pitchers combined for six strikeouts against the Tigers.
Who's Up Next
The College will wrap up its weekend road trip on Sunday with a 10 a.m. contest against Nebraska-Omaha. The Mavericks (4-5) are looking to bounce back from a 9-0 loss against top-ranked Florida.
-www.CofCSports.com-
