ARLINGTON, TEXAS – The Coastal Carolina softball team fell on the road to UT Arlington, 5-2, in game two of the Sun Belt Conference weekend series on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
CCU dropped to 12-13 overall and 1-4 in Sun Belt Conference play with the loss, while UTA improved to 10-11 overall and 2-3 in conference play with the win.
UT Arlington was first on the scoreboard as the Mavericks went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning on a solo home run from KJ Murphy.
Keirstin Roose was hit by a pitch to start the top of the second inning before
Maddy Jennings drew a walk to advance Roose to second.
Jay Wrightsman reached on a catcher's interference which advanced all runners up one base, but the Chanticleers left all three runners stranded.
In the top of the third inning,
Makiya Thomas drew her ninth walk of the season followed by an
Abbey Montoya sacrifice to advance Thomas.
Riley Zana singled to left field to bring home Thomas and make the score 1-1.
UTA's Aaliyah White singled in the bottom of the third inning before she reached third on a Chanticleer error. Kaylee Cavazos sent a two-run home run over the left-field wall to put the hosts up 3-1. Jadyn Erickson drew a base on balls followed by an Amber Langston sacrifice to advance Erickson. Erickson advanced to third on a Murphy fly out before Morgan Rios drew a walk. Meagan Smith then sent an RBI single to left field to make the score 4-1 in favor of UTA.
Jennings drew her second base on balls of the day followed by a
Payton Ebersole single past the shortstop to start the top of the fourth inning. Thomas followed with an RBI single down the left-field line to advance Ebersole to second and drive Jennings home to make the score 4-2. Montoya singled to left field to advance all runners before Ebersole was out at home to end the inning.
The Mavericks Erickson singled before advancing to second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch. Jessica Carreon drew a walk for UTA before she was caught stealing, yet Erickson crossed home plate to put the score at 5-2.
In the circle,
Nicolette Picone (5-5) suffered the loss, allowing four runs off three hits in just 2.0 innings of work, while
Kaitlin Beasley-Polko recorded four strikeouts and allowed just one run over the final four innings.
Coastal Carolina and UT Arlington will meet for the final game of the series on Sunday at 1:00 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 at www.GoCCUsports.com.
