Box Score

LYNCHBURG, Va. - Morgan Noad hit a two-out RBI triple in the sixth inning to break a 3-3 tie and the Coastal Carolina softball team held on for a 4-3 victory over host Liberty Friday evening to extend its winning streak to 10 games.

Bri Chiusano had three hits, an RBI and scored the game-deciding run as the Chanticleers won their 12th consecutive Big South game and improved to 28-17 overall and 13-2 in the conference. Kory Hayden added a two-run single while reaching base for the 24th straight game and Kelsey Dominik added two hits.

Kiana Quolas (16-10) allowed just two earned runs to win for the fifth start in a row. The complete game was the 98th of her career, tied for fourth in Big South history.

Liberty, which was coming a doubleheader split with Virginia Tech on Thursday, to double its win total from last season, dropped to 22-24 overall and 10-9 in the conference.

Coastal threatened to score in the top of the first as Chiusano led off with a single to center and Hayden walked to put two runners on, but a hard liner off the bat of Amanda Daneker was right at the third baseman to end the inning.

The Chanticleers, though, did capitalize on their second scoring opportunity to score three times in the top of the second. Liberty freshman Abby Tincher, who pitched a two-hit shutout in the win over the Hokies, walked three straight batters with one out. Chiusano took advantage with her second hit of the game, an RBI single to right, and Hayden added a two-out, two-run single past the shortstop to give CCU a 3-0 lead.

Liberty, though, came back in the bottom of the inning with three hits, including back-to-back doubles to make it 3-2. The Flames then capitalized on a Coastal miscue that kept the bottom of the third going. After reaching on a fielding error, Kelby Allen stole second and scored on a bloop double to shallow left. After a walk loaded the bases, Quolas got a groundball for an inning-ending forceout to limit the damage.

The Chanticleers stranded a pair of runners in both the fourth and fifth, while Liberty left a runner at third in the bottom of the fifth before Noad's clutch triple put Coastal in front to stay. Chiusano, who has hits in the last 10 games, led off the inning with a single to right, stole second - her 29th of the season, and went to third on a flyout off the bat of Quolas. Two batters later, Noad drilled one to the gap in right-center that landed on the warning track between the Flames' outfielders. It was Noad's second triple of her career, the third of the season for the Chants and the second in the last two games.

Liberty got a pair of hits with one out in the bottom of the inning, but Quolas got a flyout to Chiusano in shallow center and a a soft lineout back to her in the circle. In the seventh, she worked around a two-out single, but a grounder to her again resulted in her sixth putout to end the game.

The Flames got nine hits, but Quolas stranded nine runners. She struck out two and walked two. Coastal had eight hits and won despite leaving 13 on base.

The teams will complete the series with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2 p.m. Both games will be shown on both the Big South Network and ESPN3.