CONWAY – Coastal Carolina softball took over fourth-place in the Sun Belt Conference on Sunday afternoon at St. John Stadium with a five-inning win over the Texas State Bobcats (22-19, 10-7 Sun Belt) by the score of 12-2.
With the win, the Chanticleers move to 31-12 overall and 11-7 in the conference.
The Bobcats had CCU starter
Ashley Guillette on the ropes in the first inning as Christiana McDowell led off with a single and forced two walks to load the bases. The righty worked her way out of trouble as she got the final two Bobcats, Bailee Carter, and Kennedy Cline to foul out and strikeout respectively.
In the first inning, CCU took their lead first in any of the three games in the series as sophomore
Stavi Augur hit her seventh home run of the year after back-to-back singles from junior
Kassidy Smith and sophomore
Courtney Dean.
In the bottom of the second, Guillette got touched up as she loaded the bases once again. The senior allowed three walks before Bobcat Tara Oltmann delivered a single into left field for her team's first run, cutting the Chanticleer lead to 3-1.
After Coastal Carolina scored three more runs in the third, the Chants broke open the game in the bottom of the fourth with six more scores. Augur led off with her second hit of the game with a double into right-center and
Abbey Montoya put down a bunt single, but catcher Caitlyn Rogers' throw got away from the second baseman Bailee Carter, allowing Augur to come around score.
The Chants continued to rally in the fourth as they loaded the bases for
Mackenzie Beyer. The freshman delivered a base on balls and her only run batted in of the day. After Texas State reliever Dalilah Barrera got sophomore
Taylor Sweigart to strike out, Coastal went up by the score of 12-1 as they added back-to-back doubles from Smith and sophomore
Courtney Dean.
Guillette came out for the fifth to finish off the game but again the senior struggled. Head Coach
Kelley Green went to her bullpen for games' one and two starter
Kaitlin Beasley-Polko. The sophomore came through for her team as she got the hold. The Leonardtown, Md. native got a fielder 's choice ground out and two strikeouts to end it for the Chants.
Smith was on base four times on the day as the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week went 2-for-2 with a double, two walks, scored two runs, and picked up four RBI.
Augur also had two hits for Coastal as she collected the aforementioned three-run home run, her seventh double of the season, and scored two runs.
Guillette improved to 11-5 on the season as she went four innings on 101 pitches.
Coastal earned their 11th Sun Belt victory and now has a single-season high for wins in their first three seasons of conference play.
The Chanticleers will now look to Tuesday's non-conference game at home with the UNCW Seahawks. The two teams are looking to play this game for the third time this season as it has been affected by the weather the prior two times. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m.
For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSB(twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.
