CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Junior righthanded pitcher Meagen Johnson (Georgetown, S.C./Georgetown (Furman)) pitched four innings of scoreless relief and also had two hits as the Coastal Carolina softball team (15-14) won its third consecutive game, 6-0 over Harvard at the Carolina Classic on Sunday morning, Mar. 27. This marks the first time since the opening weekend of the season that the Lady Chanticleers have moved above the .500 mark on the season.

In the fourth inning, Coastal's offense broke through as sophomore Kimberly Cillis (Magnolia,Texas/Magnolia) doubled to left field to open the frame. Junior Lynee Hastings (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) had a great at bat, fouling off five pitches with two strikes before belting a single to left field that plated Cillis for the first tally of the afternoon. Freshman Ashley Gerdts (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) singled to right field to put runners on first and second with nobody out. After the next two Coastal batters were retired, junior Sara Hostetler (Albuquerque, N.M/Valley) crushed a triple over the leftfielder's head to score two more CCU runs and gave the Lady Chanticleers the early 3-0 lead.

Harvard threated to break through in the fifth inning, as Rachel Murray walked to lead off the inning. She was sacrificed to second to put a runner into scoring position, but Johnson was up to the challenge and retired the next two batters in order.

The Lady Chants added to their lead in the sixth inning. Ashley Gerdts walked to open the frame and advanced to third on the double by freshman Allison Cantrell (McDonough, Ga./Eagle's Landing). Gerdts came into score on a fielding error by the Harvard third baseman to give the Chants a 4-0 advantage.

Coastal offense was again on the attack in seventh inning as Cillis reached on the third baseman's second fielding error. She came all the way in to score from first on a double from Hastings. Pinch hitter Kristina Sheppard (Galveston, Texas/Ball) drove in the sixth and final run for Coastal on a single to right field that scored Hastings from second base.

Johnson raises her record to 3-1 on the season with the win.

Coastal's softball team will next take the field on Thursday, Mar. 31, as it squares off in a doubleheader against UNC Wilmington at 4 p.m. at CCU Softball Field.