CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina softball team (24-4) downed the James Madison Dukes 3-2 in the two teams' conference opener at St. John's Stadium on Friday night after
Riley Zana crushed a walk-off double to drive in two RBIs to give Coastal the win.
After a pair of scoreless innings in the first and second innings,
Mady Volpe pitched her way out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the third to hold the score at 0-0.
The Chants applied some pressure of their own in the bottom of the third inning when a single up the middle by Zana and a walk put two runners on base, but JMU held firm to keep the score 0-0 at the end of the third inning.
The Dukes mounted an attack in the top of the fifth inning when Kate Carrier hit a lead-off single to right field and Hannah Shifflett doubled to left field to prompt the Chants to make a pitching change. The change did not phase JMU's Kylee Gleason, who struck a two-run sacrifice fly on the next at-bat to push the Dukes out in front 2-0.
CCU got one run back in the bottom of the sixth inning when freshman
Delaney Keith hammered her sixth home run of the season over the right-field wall to narrow the gap to 2-1.
The Chants entered the bottom of the seventh inning one run down and in need of a comeback. The comeback bid began when
Indya Smith smashed a lead-off single to right field.
Maddy Jennings followed with a single of her own to left field and
Diamond Williams was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With the game on the line, Zana stepped up to the plate and hammered a walk-off two-run double down the left-field line to give Coastal a 3-2 victory.
Nicolette Picone (5-1) notched her fifth win of the season, recording two strikeouts and refusing to give up a single run in 2.2 innings of work in the circle.
The Chanticleers will be back in action versus James Madison at St. John Stadium tomorrow at 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 Athletics at goccusports.com.
