Photo Courtesy of College of Charleston Athletics
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston softball team swept its midweek doubleheader with crosstown rival Charleston Southern, earning a pair of convincing, 11-0 and 4-0 victories at Buccaneer Field on Wednesday afternoon.
CofC (22-11 overall) sprung for 24 hits on the day with 10 different Cougars registering hits, while four pitchers combined to keep the Bucs off the scoreboard.
“When you don’t let a team score, you’ve got a great chance for success,” said head coach Linda Kalafatis. “Our pitchers were outstanding, our defense was solid, and that’s as much I’ve seen us squaring up the ball with the bat in quite some time. I was excited about all of that, and it’s the right kind of focus and attention we needed today in order to be ready for a big series this weekend.”
The Cougars matched their finest offensive performance of the season in game one with nine different players combining for 17 hits, equaling their previous season high from Feb. 25 against South Carolina State.
Valerie Cassell (3-for-3, walk, two RBIs) and Katie Padilla (4-for-4, RBI) were perfect offensively out of the eight and nine spots in the lineup in game one, providing production from the bottom of the order and putting runners on base every time CofC turned the lineup over.
Three different pitchers combined for the game one win, with junior Hope Klicker (11-9) getting the start and earning the victory. She was stung in the foot by a hard-hit come backer in the first inning, and it visibly nagged her until she departed in the fourth inning. While weathering the pain, she allowed just three hits and struck out one in her 3.2 scoreless innings.
Valerie Cassell and Jen Rosene both appeared in the circle in relief and only allowed one hit and three total base runners in their combined 2.1 innings of work.
Game two was more defensively oriented, but Padilla went 2-for-3 in the second half of the twinbill to amass six hits on the day. After being held to two hits through five innings, the Cougar bats showed a resurgence to stretch out a late-inning lead and earn the victory.
Samantha Martin earned the game-two victory, going 4.0 scoreless innings in which she scattered three hits and struck out four without issuing a walk. Cassell once again appeared in relief, going 3.0 innings with three strikeouts and just two hits.
With the two shutouts, the Cougar pitching staff has now allowed just two runs in its last 31 innings.
CofC returns to Colonial Athletic Association next weekend when they host James Madison, the league front runner after sweeping defending-champion Hofstra over opening weekend. The Cougars host the Dukes in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 29 and single-game series finale on Sunday, March 30 at Patriots Point.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON: 11, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN: 0 (6 inn.) (Box Score)
In the game-one blowout, the Cougars’ provided one of their most comprehensive outings of the season. In addition to matching their season-high hit total offensively, the defense was error-free while the pitching staff only allowed four runners to advance past first base.
After leaving the bases loaded in the first, the Cougars plated at least one run in each of the next five innings, culminating with a four-run sixth which induced the run rule.
The Cougars went to work in the second inning with Kelsey Hodgson drawing a leadoff walk, followed by three consecutive singles by Cassell, Padilla and Lizzy Vaughn. The rally saw Cassell send a line-drive single to center which scored Hodgson, Padilla follow suit with a liner to center of her own, and Vaughn slap a single through the left side of the infield to load the bases. Carly Corthell nearly stretched the lead further, but was denied a base hit by CSU starting pitcher Jennifer Giles who barely got her glove to Corthell’s lined shot back to the circle, deflecting it to her right. There shortstop Stephanie Bergmann scooped it up and fired home in time for the force out. An ensuing ground ball to third base then ended the inning.
CofC continued the offensive output in the third with a leadoff triple into the corner in right field by Frisbie, who scored on an RBI single to right by Mackenzie Maples in the next at bat. A sacrifice bunt by Allison Pedigo moved the runners into scoring position, and Cassell delivered her second RBI of the game with a single off the outstretched glove of a diving third baseman.
The Cougars went back to work immediately in the fourth as Rebecca Mueller hammered the first pitch of the inning back up the middle for a single, and Frisbie sent yet another ball to the outfield fence, this time an RBI double to left center. Frisbie alertly moved up to third base when CSU attempted to throw Mueller out at the plate, and the opportunistic base running allowed her to score on a wild pitch in the next at bat.
Charleston put the game further out of reach in the fifth with two more singles by Cassell and Padilla, and runs scoring on a Buccaneer throwing error and RBI sacrifice fly by Corthell.
CofC wasn’t content with a 7-0 lead heading into the sixth, and after a Lexi Murdock single and Cassell walk put two runners on with two outs, five consecutive Cougars reached base to extend the inning and plate four more runs. Padilla followed Cassell’s walk with an RBI single to left, and Vaughn walked to load the bases. Corthell drove a two-run double into the gap in right center, and pinch-hitting freshman Brianna Davis drove a single up the middle for the second RBI of her young career.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON: 4, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN: 0 (Box Score)
The runs were tougher to come by for the bulk of the second game, but the CofC pitching staff was equally effective in order to secure the win.
Looking to roll the game-one offensive momentum over, the Cougars quickly plated a run with their first three batters of game two. Vaughn and Corthell drew walks to lead off, and Mueller drove an RBI single into left for a 1-0 lead.
The rally – and offensive onslaught – was temporarily halted as the 1-0 lead would span five innings, until CofC was able to create some breathing room in the sixth.
Hodgson walked and Cassell singled to left to put two CofC runners aboard, and Padilla’s sixth hit of the day, a two-run double to left center, finally provided late insurance runs.
The Cougars added one more in the seventh off singles by Mueller and Maples to stretch that lead to 4-0, the eventual final.
