Clinton, S.C.- The Coastal Carolina softball team split a doubleheader with the Presbyterian Blue Hose this afternoon, Sat., April 18 at Presbyterian. Coastal Carolina took game one 2-0, and lost game two in 2-1 in eight innings.

 

The game started off as a pitchers dual for the first two innings, as Presbyterian managed a lone hit off of Coastal Carolina starter Ivy McCranie (Nashville, Ga./Berrien) in the first inning. Conversely, Presbyterian starter Leslie Hensey didn’t allow a base hit until the third frame.

 

Coastal Carolina got on the board in the third inning. With one out, Mecaela Ballard (Groves, Texas/Galveston) walked, and went on to steal second base two pitches later. The next batter, senior Brittany Birnbaum (Chino Hills, Calif./Ayala) reached on an error to put runners of first and second for Michelle Evans (Upland, Calif./Upland), who promptly doubled to right centerfield, scoring Ballard and giving the Chanticleers the first run of the ballgame and the 1-0 lead.

 

PC looked to answer back in the home half of the third, after Erin Stewart walked to lead off the inning. Pinch runner Becca Caldwell stole second base two pitches later, but McCranie used a groundout and a pair of pop outs to get out of the jam and preserve the 1-0 lead.

 

A critical juncture of the contest for both teams came in the bottom of the fourth. McCranie fanned Katie Anderson. Hensey followed with a single to left. The next batter Rachel Parker walked. Krysten Handy then singled to short to load the bases for the Blue Hose with one dead. The freshman then dug deep, forcing the next two Blue Hose to pop out to end the inning with the bases chucked.

 

The Chanticleers were in business again in the fifth, as Birnbaum lead off the inning with a double to left center, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With one out, Stacy Snellings (Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin) singled to left to drive in Birnbaum for the freshman’s 14^th RBI of the season to give the Chants the 2-0 advantage with two innings to play.

 

Coastal Carolina busted the game open in the sixth pushing a pair of runs across in the frame. The Chants were helped along by a pair of PC fielding miscues and a hit batsman to stretch the lead to 4-0.

 

The Chants tacked on an insurance run in the seventh, as Snellings reached on a walk. Pinch runner Brittany Bailey (Nokesville, Va./Shenandoah) moved to second after a sacrifice bunt and went to third a pitch later on a wild pitch. Snellings then flew out to left to drive in Bailey and push the lead to the final score of 5-0.

 

McCranie improves to 3-5 on the season with the win. The freshman fanned a career-high eight Blue Hose batters in the complete game shutout of the Blue Hose. Hensley falls to 10-7 in the loss. She allowed five runs, three earned, on five Chanticleer hits and struck out seven.

 

Five Chanticleers had hits in game one, white six hitters had base knocks for Presbyterian.

 

In game two, Coastal Carolina got on the board first in the third inning. Riffel led off with single, and was moved to second by a Ashley Pisone (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) sac bunt to put a runner on second with one out. Ballard then reached on an error by the first baseman, moving Riffel to third. The next batter, Birnbaum, hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Riffel and give the Chants the early 1-0 advantage.

 

The lead was short lived, as Presbyterian answered right back in the bottom half of the frame. Amanda Miller lead off the inning, belting the Ashley Frederick (Lusby, Md./Patuxent) offering over the left centerfield fence to knot the contest at 1-1.

 

Game two was another battle between pitchers. Through the first six innings, the two sides combined for only four hits, as three belonged to PC and one to the Chanticleers.

 

With one out in seventh, Morgan Dodd (Chattanooga, Tenn./Girls Preparatory) singled up the middle, but was stranded after Gordon forced the next two Chanticleers into a popout and groundout to end the inning and the potential threat.

 

With nothing doing in the Presbyterian seventh, the game entered extra innings. With Tornatore starting out on second base due to the international tie-break rule, Gordon fanned Kelsey Riffel (Wichita, Kan./Maize) and Pisone to start the inning. Gordon then retired Ballard on a ground ball, stranding Tornatore on second.

 

In the home half of the eighth, Miller put down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to push Handy to third. With two down, Howell, smacked a shot toward left field. The Maples went deep into the hole to stop the ball, but Howell rushed to first base while Handy crossed home plate, ending the game.

 

Frederick falls to 5-8 in the loss. The junior tossed a complete-game four-hitter, allowing an earned run and struck out nine Blue Hose in the losing effort. Gordon improves to 6-13 on the year with the win. She allowed one run on two hits and fanned seven Chants in the win.

 

The teams return to action tomorrow at noon for game three of the series.