April 11, 2011

Box Score

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina University softball team dropped a 1-0 decision at South Carolina on Monday, April 11 at Beckham Field.The Chanticleers fall to 16-23 overall while the Gamecocks improve to 20-20 on the season.

The game started as a pitching duel between Coastal's Ashley Bagwell and South Carolina's Julie Sarratt. Both pitchers threw five scoreless innings, allowing only five hits combined. Bagwell threw her ninth complete game of the season, giving up one run on four hits while striking out two. She falls to 8-10 on the season. Sarratt threw seven innings, giving up only one hit while striking out six Chants to move to 6-6 overall.

Both teams had the opportunity to score in the first five innings after stranding 10 runners on base between the two teams. Sarah Maples recorded the only hit for the Chants in the second inning after doubling to left centerfield. Coastal got another base runner in the top of the third after Brooke Donovan reached first on a dropped fly ball by the right fielder, resulting in a Gamecock error. Donovan stole second to give the Chants a runner scoring position, but was left stranded after a fly out.

The Gamecocks registered their first hit in the second inning as Molly Brossart doubled to left centerfield and had a chance to score in the third after back-to-back hits with one out. Both innings, Bagwell was able to get out of the inning without giving up a run. South Carolina finally broke the ice, scoring the game's only run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kaitlin Westfall led off the sixth drawing a walk and Jackie Slawson came in to pinch run. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and was called safe at third after an error at third base. Slawson was sent home on a sacrifice fly by Kelley Dillon to give the Gamecocks a 1-0 lead.

The Chants return to the field as they host Charleston Southern for the final game of the three game series on Wednesday, April 13 at 4 p.m. at the CCU Softball Field.