Mount Pleasant, S.C. – The College of Charleston capped a rally from a four-run deficit with two in the bottom of the seventh in an 8-7 victory over Western Carolina to gain a split of its final two games of the Charleston Challenge at Patriots Point.
Earlier in the day, the Cougars (14-11) fell victim to a strong pitching performance by Ohio ace Savannah Jo Dorsey in a 2-1 loss to the Bobcats. CofC went 3-1 in its final tournament of the regular season.
The Cougars fought back the whole way against the Catamounts after falling into a 4-0 hole in the first inning. They still trailed 7-6 heading into their final at bat but quickly put runners at first and second on a double by Katie Padilla and a walk to Lexee Emanuel.
Kelly Sinclair reached when her sacrifice bunt was misplayed at first, allowing Padilla to score the tie run, and Emanuel raced across with the winning tally on a squeeze bunt by Taylor DuPree. The rally made a winner of Summerville High School graduate Summer Jenkins, the first victory of her college career. Jenkins threw only three pitches in the top of the seventh but induced Abby Daniels into a 4-3 double play grounder to keep it a one-run game.
Emanuel entered as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded in the fifth and hit a hard grounder up the middle that rolled all the way to the fence in left center to clear the bags and bring CofC within 7-6. The Cougars then left the bases loaded in the sixth before finishing the comeback the following inning.
Padilla had three hits including a two-run single in the third that cut a 5-1 Catamount lead in half. Madi Brown added two hits, Sara Garcia produced an RBI single and Jordin Jones scored a pair of runs.
The Cougars nearly pulled off a similar comeback against Ohio after being held without a base runner for the first six innings. DuPree reached on a bunt single to lead off the bottom of the seventh and end Dorsey's perfect game bid. She moved to second on a sacrifice and scored on a two-out single by Taylor Belfiore before Dorsey fanned Emanuel to end the contest.
Dorsey, who was the No. 22 pitcher in the nation in the Fastpitch News preseason rankings, struck out 10 and did not walk a batter. Sydney Shipley came in to relieve in the first and went 6.1 innings, allowing six hits while fanning a season-high six. She blanked the Bobcats until the sixth when Alex Day and Natalie Alvarez led off with consecutive doubles, and Madison Claytor made it 2-0 with a run-scoring single.
CofC is back in action at Georgia Southern for a single game on Wednesday at 6 before hosting Elon in its opening Colonial Athletic Association series. The Cougars and Phoenix meet at Patriots Point for a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 and a Sunday single game at 12:30.
