ROCK HILL, S.C. – No. 3 Coastal Carolina’s Verity Long-Droppert posted a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to lift the Chanticleers to the 3-1 victory over No. 6 Charleston Southern Thursday afternoon in game two of the 2008 Big South Softball Championship.

With the win, Coastal Carolina improves to 19-38, while the Bucs fall to 18-40.

Charleston Southern put one run on the board in the top of the first to take the early 1-0 lead.  Jill Shondel led the inning off with a bunt single and moved over to third on a single by Jennifer Brooks.  Shondel scored on a groundout by Ashley Conway.

Coastal Carolina answered back in the bottom of the first by scoring three runs to take the 3-1 lead.  With one out, Brittany Birnbaum made her way to first as she was hit by a pitch, and moved to second on a single by Alison Cantrell.  Long-Droppert followed with a three-run blast to left field to clear the bases.

Charleston Southern posted nine hits while the Lady Chants put down four hits on the day.

In the circle, Ashley Peterson landed the win for the Lady Chanticleers, while Jamie Wellons took the loss for Charleston Southern.

With the win Coastal Carolina will now play No. 2 seed Radford in game four at 5:30pm.  Charleston Southern will play No. 4 Liberty at 10:00am on Friday, May 9 in the first round of the consolation bracket.

Quotes
Coastal Carolina Head Coach Jess Dannelly
“Defense wins ball games.  Our outfield hit the cut-offs and we turned three double plays.”

Charleston Southern Head Coach Jeff Aumend
“We out-hit Coastal but just couldn’t string the hits together.  Long-Droppert is one of the best hitters in the League and we needed to be certain that we didn’t give her a good pitch to hit.  We still like our chances.  We’ve been very competitive despite our record.  We’re gonna leave it out on the field.”