HUNTINGTON, W.V. – The Coastal Carolina softball team made good use of the long ball to down the Marshall Thundering Herd, 7-1, in the series opener in Huntington W.V., on Friday.
With the win, Coastal improves to 28-18, 8-8 Sun Belt while Marshall falls to 20-22 and 6-10 in league play.
The Chants took the lead in the top of the third frame after Ava Hampton kicked off the inning with a walk. Brie Normandin then laid down a sacrifice bunt and Thundering Herd's second baseman had a wayward throw while trying to turn the double play, which allowed Hampton to reach home to make the score 1-0.
In the top of the fourth inning, Delaney Keith laced a home run over the centerfield wall to put the Chants up 2-0. Graduate student Iyanla De Jesus then followed suit, smashing a solo home run of her own to push Coastal ahead 3-0.
The runs kept coming for the Chants in the top of the fifth frame after back-to-back walks put runners on first and second base. Riley Zana then ripped an RBI single to center field to drive in Libby Pippin. De Jesus followed with her second RBI of the day when she reached on a fielder's choice and Keith was able to score on some heads-up base running to extend Coastal's lead to 5-0.
Georgia Hood belted CCU's 50th home run of the season, driving in two runs to give CCU a healthy 7-0 advantage after five innings of play.
The Thundering Herd were able to push across one run in the bottom of the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly, but CCU held on to take the 7-1 win.
Raelee Brabham picked up her 20th win in the circle, allowing one run in 7.0 innings of work The fifth-year senior is one of just six Chants to record 20 or more wins in a single season.
The Chanticleers will take on Marshall tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET for the second game of the series.
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.
