Belfiore's Home Run Lifts Cougars Past Akron to Gain Sunday Split

Sunday, February 11

DeLand, FL

10:00 AM

College of Charleston

2-1

Kansas

4-1

Col. of Charleston

Kansas

Belfiore's Home Run Lifts Cougars Past Akron to Gain Sunday Split

2/11/2018 4:26:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

DeLand, Fla. – Taylor Belfiore capped off an outstanding opening weekend with a game-winning, two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th to give the College of Charleston a 5-4 win over Akron and a split of Sunday's two games at the Stetson Leadoff Classic.

The Cougars won three of four in the season-opening tournament after dropping a 6-1 contest to Kansas earlier Sunday. Charleston is off until Thursday at 4 p.m. when it opens its home season against DePaul in the first game of the Cougar Classic at Patriots Point.

The Cougars and Zips matched single runs in the eighth and ninth before Akron went ahead for the final time at 4-3 in the top of the 10th. With Yari Felix at second in the softball tiebreaker rule, Belfiore blasted a two-run shot to left for her first home run of the season and eighth of her young Charleston career.

The sophomore had five hits and drove in seven runs in the four games to join Taylor DuPree on the all-tournament team. DuPree had nine hits, including a career-high four against Akron, scored four runs, drove in four and stole four bases, increasing her school-record total to 78 in the latter category.

Izzy Berouty went the distance in the circle for the Cougars, allowing eight hits in picking up her first win of the season. She was able to strand two runners on base in each of the first three innings and benefited from a pair of Cougar defensive gems that resulted in two outs on double steal attempts.

Lexee Emanuel singled in a run to tie the game in the eighth but was thrown out at home trying to score the winning run on a double by Kelly Sinclair. DuPree again kept the Cougars alive with a two-out RBI single in the ninth to set the stage for Befiore's heroics.

The game was scoreless before Jordin Jones gave Charleston a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the fifth. The Zips tied it in the sixth and had a runner in scoring position in the seventh before DuPree snagged a line drive at third and threw to second for an inning-ending double play.

Belfiore drove in the only run for the Cougars in their loss to Kansas, knocking in DuPree with a first-inning single. The Jayhawks scored single runs against Summer Jenkins in their half of the first and second and broke it open with a four-run sixth including a pinch-hit three-run homer by Shelby Gayre.

Jenkins, making her first career start, allowed seven hits and only one earned run in six innings while striking out three.

Charleston had appeared to take a 3-2 lead in the third, but it was negated on an unusual call. Belfiore smacked a two-run single but was called out and the runners were forced to return to second and third after the umpires ruled that she did not properly re-enter the game after being pinch ran for by Jordan Barcus in the first.