CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina softball team walked off the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 8-7, on day one of the Battle at the Beach at St. John Stadium.
Notre Dame struck first in the top of the first inning when Emily Tran crushed a triple to right-center field, Addison Amaral followed with an RBI double to give the Fighting Irish a 1-0 lead.
Coastal responded in the bottom of the first inning when
Libby Pippin blooped a single into right field and
Georgia Hood drove her in with a single of her own to level the score at 1-1.
In the top of the third inning Notre Dame regained its lead when Kaia Cortes smashed a home run over the right-center field wall to make the score 2-1.
The cat and mouse game continued in the bottom of the third inning when
Delaney Keith clobbered a two-run home run onto the batting cage in center field to put the Chants up 3-2.
Notre Dame's Rachel Allen cracked a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning to once again tie the game up at 3-3.
The Fighting Irish pulled away in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs off singles from Amaral and Allen push out in front 6-3.
The Chants stormed back in the bottom of the seventh, rattling off three runs, courtesy of Keith's second home run of the day and a two-run single from
Maddy Jennings to send the game to extra innings at 6-6.
Notre Dame took the lead in its half of the eighth inning when Sydny Poeck singled to drive in Amaral, who was placed on second base, bringing the score to 7-6.
CCU walked it off in the bottom of the eighth inning after
Clara Hudgens tied the game with an RBI single, and
Georgia Hood followed with a walk-off single to lift the Chanticleers to an 8-7 victory.
Nicolette Picone (3-0) allowed just one earned run and struck out eight in 3.1 innings of relief to earn her third win in the circle.
The Chanticleers will be back in action tomorrow to face Marist at 4:45 p.m. and Kent State at 7:15 p.m.
For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSoftball (X), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.
