College of Charleston 14, Hampton 4 (5 inn.)
College of Charleston 5, Hampton 1
Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- The College of Charleston softball team tallied 20 total hits and scored 19 runs as it swept Hampton in a doubleheader, 14-4 in five innings of game one and 5-1 in game two, Tuesday afternoon at Patriots Point.
The Cougars improved to 23-26 overall and 5-4 in the Southern Conference. The team will travel to Cullowhee, N.C., to face Western Carolina in a three-game SoCon series April 12 and 13. The Lady Pirates' record moves to 19-11 overall, 5-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Game one saw five different Cougars score two runs, starting with four runs scored in the first inning. Tiffany Harmon and Shannon Howard scored after Kristie Shifflett grounded out to shortstop. Brittany Small hit her second home run of the season, a two-out, two-run bomb to center, bringing in Katie Nutaitis in the effort.
In the second inning, Charleston added six more runs and batted through the line up. Shannon Howard tripled to right to score Kristi Woodall and then scored a run of her own off a ground-out by Shifflett. Small and Terri Mesko batted in the final two runs of the inning off a double to left-center and a single, respectively.
Hampton spoiled the shut out in the fourth inning with four runs. Joselyn Matthews single to third and scored off a double by Evelyn Garcia. Garcia, Jada Jeffries and Angela Balser added three more runs to bring the HU total to four.
Mesko (9-14) pitched a no-hitter, her first of the season. The McDonough, Ga., native struck out 10 batters in 12 at-bats. Alexa Datko (2-2) pitched one inning in relief of Mesko.
Jeffries (5-2) pitched through four innings for the Lady Pirates. She allowed 12 hits in 26 at-bats.
HU got on the board first in game two. Balser, hit a one-out homer to center field to put the Pirates up 1-0, her fourth of the year.
After going four innings without a run, the Cougars got on the board in the fifth with four runs. Christal Kotchman, Samantha Kubinski, Shifflett and Woodall tallied runs on one Hampton error and five hits. Mesko hit her second triple of the season in the sixth inning. She added CofC's final run on a ground-out by Kotchman.
Howard (11-11) pitched a complete game. The junior's 15 strikeouts were the most she has had this season. Howard allowed two hits in 23 at-bats.
USC Upstate 2, Furman 0
USC Upstate 7, Furman 6
Spartanburg, S.C. -- USC Upstate’s Lauren Quevedo belted a walk-off homer to give the Spartans a 7-6 victory in game two and doubleheader sweep of Furman in non-conference softball action Tuesday evening at Cyrill Stadium. The Spartans took game one, 2-0.
The losses drop Furman to 17-19 on the season while USC Upstate improves to 25-12.
Furman led game two 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth when Tiffany Pitcher opened the frame with a single and Ana Mitchell followed with a double to put runners at second and third with nobody out against Paladin reliever Lana Mackey. Leadoff hitter Kim Brasil delivered a two-run double with one out in the inning to knot the game at 6-6.
After Spartan reliever Morgan Childers set down the Paladins in the top of the seventh, Quevedo blasted the game-winning homer to right-center to give the Spartans their 25th victory of the season. Childers (20-5) picked up her second win of the day working three scoreless innings and striking out five.
USC Upstate opened a 3-0 lead before an RBI single from Abby Robertson and RBI ground out from Morgan Hughey pulled Furman within a run in the third inning. Trailing 4-2 in the fifth, the Paladins grabbed the lead with four runs. Stephanie Cushing opened the frame with a single and advanced to second when Robertson was hit by a pitch. Brythe Blankenship followed with a single to score Cushing. Mackey delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the game and Bethany Ullrich and Meredith Mielke reached on infield singles to plate two more Paladin runs.
Lana Mackey (12-15) suffered her second defeat of the day allowing three earned runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Mitchell and Brasil each totaled a pair of RBI for the Spartans while Quevedo, Vanesa Flores and Pitcher each registered two hits apiece. Mielke and Cushing each tallied two hits for Furman.
In game one, Childers limited Furman to just three hits while tossing a complete game shutout and striking out 14 batters in a 2-0 Spartan win.
Quevedo and Courtney Feldon, who had a pair of hits, drove in the runs for the Spartans. Katie Michaels notched two of Furman’s three hits. Mackey suffered the loss allowing two runs on five hits while fanning seven.
Furman, winners of five straight league games, opens a 10-game homestand when it hosts Appalachian State in a three-game Southern Conference series Saturday and Sunday at Pepsi Stadium. Saturday’s doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m. while Sunday’s series final is also set for 1 p.m.