Charleston, S.C. – Jordin Jones drove in a total of five runs and the College of Charleston got solid work from its pitching staff in a 5-2 win over Chattanooga and a 6-1 victory over Robert Morris on the second day of the Holy City Showdown at Patriots Point.
The Cougars (11-9) have won three of their four games in the tournament, which concludes Sunday with a 1:30 game against UMass Lowell.
Jones hit a solo homer, her second of the year, and had two RBI against Chattanooga and added a three-run double in the sixth inning to break open a close game against Robert Morris. The performance nearly doubled her RBI total on the season after she recorded seven through the first 18 games.
Jones erased an early 1-0 deficit against the Mocs with her home run in the bottom of the first, and Sara Garcia singled in a run later in the inning to give the Cougars a lead they would never relinquish. Jones knocked in her second run in the fourth, and CofC added a final insurance tally an inning later when Dana Horgan singled and scored on the back end of a double steal.
Sydney Shipley went the first 5.2 innings in the circle, allowing seven hits and one earned run with five strikeouts for her third win of the year. Chattanooga loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, and Izzy Berouty came in to induce a fly out from pinch hitter Amanda Beltran before setting down the side in the seventh to earn her first save.
Later Saturday night, the Cougars and Colonials were locked in a scoreless tie until the fourth when Garcia singled and scored when a ground ball by Katie Padilla was thrown wildly by the Robert Morris third baseman. A single by Kashmir Huckaby, her second hit of the night, chased across Padilla to make it 2-0.
The Colonials got a run back in the fifth and threatened again in the sixth but were stymied by a pair of outstanding defensive plays by Brittany Violette. Following a leadoff error, the sophomore pitcher gunned down a pair of runners on force plays at second before finishing the inning with a strikeout.
The Cougars broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, highlighted by Jones' bases loaded double to the fence in left center.
Sam Martin started for CofC and allowed two walks and no hits in two innings before being relieved by Violette, who went the rest of the way to pick up her fourth win. In her five innings, Violette allowed only three hits and one run with a pair of strikeouts.
