College of Charleston 3, No. 7 Tennessee 1

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. -  The College of Charleston softball team knocked off No. 7 Tennessee, 3-1, at Patriots Point behind a complete game from sophomore pitcher Hope Klicker and late RBIs by freshmen Chandler Frisbie and Rebecca Mueller.

CofC (7-3) battled from behind with fifth and sixth-inning rallies to win its seventh straight contest. After surrendering a first-inning run, Klicker (Walla Walla, Wash.) would hold the Lady Vols to just three hits and no runs the rest of the way. She would end the game with six strikeouts.

The Cougars were kept off the basepaths until a third-inning Kristy Giragosian (Charlotte, N.C.) single, but they triggered a comeback rally in the fifth and then seized the lead in the sixth inning.

Five different Cougars combined for CofC’s five hits on the day.

Tennessee (14-3) got on the board in the first after Kat Dotson drew a walk and stole second before scoring on an RBI single sprayed back up the middle by Lauren Gibson.

The Lady Vols came into the game batting .363 as a unit and were limited to four-or-less hits for only the third time this season.

Giragosian was stranded after her third-inning single but drew a one-out walk to trigger a fifth-inning rally for the Cougars. Lizzy Vaughn (Placerville, Calif.) drove a single back up the middle and Mueller laced a double over the right fielder’s head and into the corner to bring Giragosian to the plate and tie the game.

The Cougars picked up where they left off in the sixth and Hodgson nearly put them in front herself with a one-out drive to right which cleared the fence but hooked just outside of the foul pole. She followed up with a shot down the third base line which UT third baseman Raven Chavanne did everything she could to knock down but had no chance to get Hodgson at first. Frisbie then lined a double into the gap in right center which allowed Hodgson to score from first and put the Cougars up 2-1.

Chloe Fletcher (Land O’Lakes, Fla.) came into the game to pinch run for Frisbie on second base and immediately stole third base. The throw attempt from UT catcher Hannah Akamine sailed into left field and Fletcher scrambled to her feet and scurried home to provide an insurance run heading into the seventh.

The Lady Vols would put the tying run on base in the seventh but Klicker overcame the pressure and Hodgson fielded a sharp-hit grounder and stepped on third to end the threat and seal the victory.   

The road ahead doesn’t get a lot easier for the Cougars who will look to carry the big-win momentum into an arduous weekend at the Citrus Classic in Kissimmee, Fla. The Cougars are slated to see James Madison which is receiving votes in the USA Today / NFCA Top 25 poll as well as No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 13 Louisiana-Lafayette, Georgetown and Hofstra.

The Cougars kick off the weekend on Friday evening against James Madison at 5:45 p.m.

No. 23 Virginia Tech 2, Elon 1

ELON, N.C. – The Elon softball team saw its five-game winning streak snapped at the hands of No. 23 Virginia Tech (11-1) in the form of a 2-1 setback on Thursday, Feb. 28. The Phoenix (6-5) dropped its second game of the year at Hunt Softball Park, despite another strong outing from freshman pitcher Kayla Caruso.

Caruso (3-3) pitched her fourth consecutive complete game for the Phoenix, allowing only one earned run and striking out three batters. The Kennesaw, Ga., native went down to the wire with the Hokies, who came into the today’s matchup on an eight-game win streak.

On a day that was dedicated to Hunt Softball Park and its donors, Caruso and the Elon defense were able to get out of a jam late in the top of the first with runners in scoring position and two outs. Caruso was able to force the Virginia Tech batter to popup to end the inning.

Elon started strong with Carleigh Nester and Camille Hill reaching base on their first at-bats. Nester would get called out going to third after Tomeka Watson reached on a fielder’s choice. Virginia Tech starter Kelly Heinz was able to strike out the next two batters to end the inning.

After a scoreless second and top of the third, Elon would be the first to get on the board in the bottom of the third with Watson scoring on an Emily Cameron two-out single up the middle to give the Phoenix a 1-0. The Phoenix could not capitalize on the next at-bat, as Heinz added her fifth strikeout of the game to move into the top of the fourth.

Caruso fanned the first two batters to lead-off the inning, but Elon had trouble converting the last out. The Hokies would score to tie the game at 1-1 after back-to-back errors by the Phoenix before Caruso retired the next batter for the final out of the inning.

The Phoenix’s Grace Eng singled to lead off the bottom half of the fourth, forcing the Hokies to make a pitching change with Jasmine Harrell relieving Heinz. Amanda Allen proceeded to single on the next at-bat to give the Phoenix two on with no outs. Lauren Oldham advanced both runners into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt with the top of the lineup coming up for the Phoenix. Elon could not drive them home as Harrell forced Nester and Hill to ground out to end the inning. 

In the top of the seventh, Virginia Tech’s Bkaye Smith led-off with a triple to move into scoring position. After the next two batters were walked to load the bases, Kelsey Mericka drew another walk to drive in the go-ahead run, 2-1.

Elon went down in order in the bottom half to fall to 5-2 at its new ballpark. The Hokies’ Harrell (6-0) earned the win after pitching 4.0 innings and allowing only one hit with three strikeouts. Starter Heinz pitched 3.0 innings, allowed one run, unearned, on eight hits.