Philadelphia, Pa. – Kelly Sinclair turned in the best offensive day of her career with seven hits and five RBI, and Izzy Berouty earned a pair of wins in relief to lead the College of Charleston to a sweep of Drexel in a Colonial Athletic Association doubleheader Saturday in Philadelphia.
The Cougars (23-17, 5-6 CAA) won by scores of 7-5 and 11-5 and will go for a series sweep tomorrow at noon. Drexel dropped to 11-20 and 1-11 in the CAA.
Sinclair had four hits and drove in three runs in the opener, including an RBI single in the sixth that broke a 4-4 tie. Jordin Jones was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded later in the inning, and Kashmir Huckaby doubled in a run in the seventh to provide two insurance runs for the Cougars.
Sinclair, who raised her batting average from .267 to .307, also singled in the first, doubled in a run in the third and singled in Huckaby to give CofC a 4-3 lead in the fourth. The Dragons tied it in the fifth before Sinclair gave the Cougars the lead for good two innings later.
Huckaby and Jordin Jones both added two RBI, and Huckaby, Taylor DuPree and Katie Padilla each had two of CofC's 11 base hits.
Berouty allowed the tie run in the fifth but earned the win courtesy of the two-run Cougar sixth. She went the final three innings and allowed four hits and two runs but was able to retire Drexel's 3-4-5 hitters in the seventh after giving up consecutive doubles to start the frame.
Sydney Shipley went the first four innings and struck out five without walking a batter. She surrendered a three-run homer to Linda Rush in the first but blanked the Dragons after that.
The Cougars continued their offensive onslaught in the second game, knocking out 14 hits with every starter getting at least one. Sinclair had three of those hits and again provided what proved to be the game-winning hit when her single in the fourth plated Madi Brown, who had doubled to lead off the inning, to give CofC a 6-5 lead.
DuPree reached on an error in the sixth and stole second, reaching the 20-steal mark for the third time in as many seasons as a Cougar. She came across on a single by Lexee Emanuel to make it 7-5, and CofC added four in the seventh, including Huckaby's second home run of the season and Sinclair's final hit and RBI of the doubleheader.
DuPree and Jones drove in runs with a triple and double, respectively, as the Cougars hit for the cycle in the seventh. Dana Horgan added her third homer of the season to tie the game at 2 in the second and again evened it at 5 in the third when she followed RBI singles by Sara Garcia and Padilla with a run-scoring single of her own.
Berouty entered the game in relief of Sam Martin in the fourth and worked four innings of three-hit shutout ball to earn her second win of the day and third of the week including Wednesday's victory over Charleston Southern. The freshman is now 6-4 on the season.
Following tomorrow's game at Drexel, the Cougars play six games next week beginning with a single home contest against Coastal Carolina Tuesday at 5:00. That will be CofC Faculty and Staff Night, with all faculty and staff entering free along with one guest. Proper ID must be shown to receive free tickets.
The next day, the Cougars play a recently-added doubleheader at Gardner-Webb beginning at 2:00 before hosting Delaware for a twinbill Saturday at 2:00 and a single game Sunday at 12:30.
