Boiling Springs, N.C. – The College of Charleston scored eight runs over the final two innings to erase a five-run deficit and pick up an 8-5 win over Gardner-Webb to gain a split of a doubleheader with the Runnin' Bulldogs. Gardner-Webb took the opener by a score of 5-2.
The Cougars have won six of their last seven and are 26-18 heading into this weekend's Colonial Athletic Association series against Delaware at Patriots Point. Gardner-Webb is 13-29.
The Cougars were facing a sweep when they trailed 5-0 heading into the sixth but loaded the bases with nobody out on a single by Taylor DuPree, an error and a walk. Taylor Belfiore got CofC on the board with a walk that forced in a run, and Katie Padilla followed with a single to make it a three-run game.
One out later, Madi Brown capped an outstanding day with a double that cleared the bases and tied it at 5. Brown had five hits in the doubleheader, raising her season average to .316.
After Izzy Berouty worked out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth, the Cougar bats picked right back up in the seventh. DuPree again got it started with a single, her third hit of the game, and Jordin Jones walked. With runners at second and third, a wild pitch brought home DuPree to put CofC in front.
Belfiore then put the finishing touches on the comeback when she slammed her seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot that broke a tie with Jones for the team lead. Belfiore joined DuPree with three hits in the nightcap.
Berouty continued her string of victories, having earned the win in each game of the Cougars' current run. She relieved Sydney Shipley after Gardner-Webb scored four times in the first and allowed only three hits and one run the rest of the way to give CofC the opportunity to rally.
Berouty (9-4) also worked 1.2 innings of scoreless ball in the opener and has appeared in each of the Cougars' last seven contests.
In the first game, CofC jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second when Brown singled and Padilla raced all the way home from first on an error. But the Runnin' Bulldogs tied it in the bottom of the inning and went ahead in the fourth on a two-out solo home run by Callie Thornton.
A three-run fifth put Gardner-Webb up by four, but the Cougars threatened in the seventh. Singles by Brown and DuPree and a walk to Dexlie Inman, who also had two hits in the game, loaded the bases. A run scored on an error, but Jones flied out to left to leave the bases loaded.
Saturday's 2:00 doubleheader against Delaware will be Kids Day, with children receiving free entry with the purchase of an adult ticket. The first 100 kids will get a free lunch box. The series with the Blue Hens concludes with a single game on Sunday at 12:30.
