CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina softball team dropped both games of Saturday's doubleheader at home to the Georgia Southern Eagles (9-18, 2-10 SBC) by the scores of 9-1 (6 innings) and 7-6.
The Chanticleers fall to 9-18 overall and 2-10 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Game 1 – GS 9, CCU 1 (6 innings)
Georgia Southern broke out for five runs in the second inning and never looked back to defeat CCU by the score of 9-1 in six innings.
In the top of the second inning, the Eagles sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs off the Chanticleer pitching.
Georgia Southern's Bailee Wilson led off the bottom of the second inning with her second home run of the season. Mekhia Freeman and Faith Shirley combined for three more RBI to put the Eagles squad team ahead by the score of 5-0.
After the Eagles added a run to their lead in the top of the third, the Chants picked up their only run of the game on junior Abbey Montoya's infield hit that scored Makiya Thomas. Thomas was on second base to start the play but moved over on the hit and didn't break stride to cut the lead to 6-1.
Georgia Southern put the Chants in away in game one, 9-1, with three more runs in the top of the sixth.
Shirley collected her third hit of the game with a two-run double and then scored the last run of the game for her team on a CCU wild pitch.
The senior Shirley had a team-high three hits and four RBI in the victory.
Kyleigh Richardson pitched 4.2 innings, allowed three hits, and a run for her third victory of the season.
The trio of Montoya, Ally Clegg, and Kayla Rosado each had one hit in the defeat for Coastal.
Game 2 - GS 7, CCU 6
With the score tied 3-3 after three innings of play, the Eagles added four runs in the top of the fourth inning to grab the 7-3 lead.
With a runner on second base and one out, Shayla Smith took Chant stater Raelee Brabham's pitch over the fence, the second of two home runs in game two. After play reset, Ashlynn Gunter and Mehkia Freeman reached base with back-to-back singles. Gunter would advance to third and then would come around to score on a wild pitch. Freeman extended the lead to 7-3 as she scored on a Faith Shirley RBI groundout to shortstop.
Coastal would cut into the Georgia Southern lead with runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings.
Taylor Sweigart and Makiya Thomas reached base to start fourth for CCU. Sweigart reached base with a leadoff walk and would score on an Abbey Montoya sacrifice fly. After getting on base with a single, Thomas would cut the Eagles' lead to 7-6 as she scored on an infield single from Mackenzie Beyer.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Coastal continued to battle off the Eagles' reliever Harlee Rewis.
Graduate student Kayla Rosado blooped a double down the left field line that gave the Chanticleers the perfect opportunity to push home the tying run. The next batter Riley Zana laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that moved over pinch-runner Paige Rivas to third base, but Rewis would get the next batter, sophomore Mary Sobataka to strike out swinging for the second out. Sweigart would reach base for the fourth time in the game with a two-out walk from Rewis, but the GS' righty would induce Thomas to pop up for the final out of the game.
The Chanticleers and Eagles combined for 13 runs, 22 hits, and five pitchers used in the game.
Rylee Waldrep picked up her third win of the season out of the bullpen as she allowed six hits, five runs, four earned in 2.1 innings of relief.
Rewis earned her first save of the season as she allowed just two hits in 2.2 innings of relief work.
Sophomore Mackenzie Beyer hit her team-high seventh home run of the season and had a team-high three RBI in the loss.
It was the second time this season that four Chanticleer batters had two or more hits in a game. Stavi Augur, Beyer, Rosado, and Sweigart each had two hits in the game.
Brabham drops to 2-5 with the loss. The sophomore allowed seven runs, five earned in four innings of work.
Prior Satuday's games, the Chanticleers recognized senior Michaela McAuley as one of their six seniors on the 2021 team.
Coastal Carolina will return to the diamond on Tuesday, April 10, as they travel to Charleston, S.C., for a mid-week doubleheader with the College of Charleston Cougars at Patriots Park. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSoftball (Twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers(Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina.
