HUNTINGTON, W.V. – The Coastal Carolina softball team overpowered the Marshall Thundering Herd, 12-3, on Sunday afternoon in Huntington, W.V. to secure the Sun Belt series win.
With the win, the Chants improve to 29-19, 9-9 Sun Belt on the season.
CCU seized momentum in the first inning with Riley Zana and Iyanla De Jesus each driving in RBIs on a double and a single respectively, to give CCU a 2-0 lead.
The Thundering Herd answered right back in the bottom of the first inning when Brooklyn Ulrich smashed a leadoff home run over the left-centerfield wall to cut the Chants lead in half at 2-1.
Coastal pushed ahead in the top of the second frame when Brie Normandin laced an RBI single to center field to drive in Ava Hampton and put the Chants up 3-1.
The back-and-forth contest continued in the bottom of the second inning when the Thundering Herd leveled the score at 3-3 on a wild pitch and an RBI single.
The Chants' bats came alive in the third when Zana and De Jesus hit two consecutive singles and Georgia Hood reached on a walk to load the bases. Maddy Jennings then crushed a sacrifice fly to left field to push CCU in front, 4-3.
CCU built on its momentum in the top of the third when Hampton cracked an RBI single to center field to drive in De Jesus and Libby Pippin followed with a two-run single to extend Coastal's lead to 7-3.
The Chants loaded the bases for a second time in the top of the fourth inning and Hood drove one run home on a sacrifice fly to make the score 8-3. Jennings walked on the next play to juice the bases and allow Hampton to belt Coastal's sixth grand slam of the year over the left-field wall to give CCU the 12-3 run-rule win.
Raelee Brabham improved the 21-8 on the year, allowing three runs while striking out three in her 5.0 innings of work.
The Chanticleers will return to St. John Stadium next week to take on Georgia State on April 26-28.
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.
