Mount Pleasant, S.C. – Three College of Charleston pitchers combined to allow only two runs in a doubleheader sweep of Hofstra that moved the Cougars into third place in the Colonial Athletic Association standings.
CofC took the opener 2-1 when Sara Garcia drew a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh then scored four times in the first en route to a 5-1 victory in the nightcap. The Cougars (30-19, 10-7 CAA) have won 10 of their last 12 overall and seven of their past eight conference games.
Hofstra had won nine in a row entering Saturday's twinbill but fell to 23-19 and 9-6. The Pride still have a slim lead over the Cougars for second place in the CAA standings based on winning percentage, but CofC inched ahead of UNC Wilmington (9-7), which split a doubleheader with Towson.
Saturday's two victories also secured the 11th 30-win season in the 25-year history of the CofC softball program, including three in four seasons under Head Coach Linda Kalafatis. The Cougars will look to finish off the series sweep of Hofstra Sunday at 11 a.m., and the game will be followed by Senior Day ceremonies.
Izzy Berouty (11-5) earned the win in relief in both games after escaping a pair of huge jams. She entered the first game after Hofstra tied it in the sixth and had the bases loaded with nobody out. Berouty got Lacey Clark to fly out to center, with the Cougars turning a double play when Brielle Pietrafesa was out at the plate trying to score after a rundown. A foul out then ended the inning.
After Berouty set down the Pride in the seventh, CofC loaded the bases on a single by Yari Felix and two walks. Garcia then drew the third base on balls of the inning to force in Felix with the winning run.
Sydney Shipley allowed only two hits through five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. She was staked to a 1-0 lead when Jordin Jones hit a solo homer in the first, tying her with Taylor Belfiore for the team lead with seven. The Cougars had chances to widen their lead but left two runners on in the second, third and fourth innings.
CofC wasted little time jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the second game. Taylor DuPree led off with a single and scored on a base hit by Jones. A double by Garcia made it 2-0, and Belfiore capped the uprising with a line drive single off the fence in left to plate two.
Starter Sam Martin held the Pride scoreless through three but gave up a run in the fourth, and Berouty came in with two on and one out. Again the Cougar defense came through, with Garcia snagging a line drive in right and throwing out a runner at the plate to keep it at 4-1. Berouty went on to allow only one hit in 3.2 innings.
Jones added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth with her third RBI of the day on a single that scored Felix, and Berouty finished it off by retiring the final six Hofstra batters.
