CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina softball team snapped a 12-game Sun Belt Conference winless streak on Friday afternoon, as the Chanticleers defeated Georgia State 3-2 at St. John Stadium.
With the win, CCU improved to 16-23 overall and 2-14 in SBC play while GSU dropped to 16-24 overall and 6-10 in conference play with the loss.
Georgia State struck early, as the Panthers' Bailee Richardson sent a two-run home run over the center-field fence and brought home Skylar Chavez who was hit by a pitch the batter before to make the score 2-0 in the top of the first.
Makiya Thomas reached first on a Panthers error before a sacrifice bunt from
Abbey Montoya advanced Thomas to second followed by a wild pitch that put Thomas on third.
Riley Zana sent a sacrifice fly deep to right field and scored Thomas to cut the Panthers' lead to one and make the score 2-1.
In the bottom of the third inning,
Payton Ebersole drew a walk followed by a Thomas bunt to advance Ebersole to second, before Ebersole was out on the play. Thomas stole third followed by Montoya sending her sixth home run of the season deep into right-center field and put the hosts up 3-2.
Georgia State looked to answer in the top of the sixth as Chole Middlebrooks was hit by a pitch to put the Panthers first runner on base before advancing to second base on a wild pitch. Richardson reached base on a Chanticleer error to put runners on first and second. Sophie Mooney reached on a fielder's choice which advanced Richardson before Middlebrooks was forced out on the play. Daisy Hess drew a walk to load the bases before
Kaitlin Beasley-Polko ended the inning with her eighth strikeout of the day.
Neither team was able to break the scoreline the remainder of the contest, as
Beasley-Polko (9-7) saw her sixth complete game of the season.The Leonardtown, Md. native tallied nine strikeouts against the Panthers.
At the plate, Thomas finished the afternoon 2-for-3 while Montoya and
Shae Schreckengost each went 1-for-2 with Montoya recording the game-winning RBIs against Georgia State in the bottom of the third.
The Chanticleers and Panthers will face off again on Saturday, April 23. First pitch is set for 2 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.
