Liberty 9, Charleston Southern 8

Liberty erased a pair of four-run deficits against Charleston Southern on Saturday, and won the game, 9-8, on a Jenny Law walk-off hit with two outs in the eighth inning at Liberty Softball Field.

This marks the second Saturday in a row during which Jenny Law collected a walk-off single, as she clinched a 4-3 win over Winthrop one week ago.

The Lady Flames advance to 11-23 on the season, with a 5-7 mark in Conference play. Charleston Southern is 22-18, 7-4 in Big South games, after taking two of three this weekend.

Kelly Strickland went 2-for-4 and hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to tie the game at 7-7. It was her third homer of the season, and the first grand slam by a Lady Flame this year.

Katie Zavodny, Hanna Nichols and Sammi Shivock all had two-hit games, helping Liberty collect 10 hits. Meredith Crisante hit a two-run homer during the bottom of the fourth, her fourth homer of the season to tie her for the team lead.

Chandler Ball (5-7) pitched a complete game, allowing six earned runs on 10 hits, striking out six batters.

Kristin Kelleher and Jessica Brock both had two hits for CSU, with Brock hitting her first home run of 2012 to drive in two runs. Morgan Dowdy pitched the first seven innings, yielding eight runs on eight hits, before Jennifer Giles (6-8) pitched the final 2/3 of an inning to draw the loss.

Charleston Southern loaded the bases with nobody out during the top of the first inning, and Matthews gave the Buccaneers a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly. After a wild pitch produced another run, Ball struck out Hayes Holdsworth to end the frame.

Zavodny bunted for a leadoff single in Liberty's half of the first. She moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jill Stephens. Law plated her with a groundout, slicing the deficit in half, to 2-1.

Adams, Kelleher and Brock reached base on consecutive one-out singles in the second inning. Lombard singled to right to drive in Adams for a 3-1 advantage, and Stephanie Sbardella plated a pair with a two-out base hit. Ball fanned Linzy Rother, bringing the top of the second to a close.

Following a scoreless CSU third, Zavodny reached on a two-out infield single. Stephens then shot a liner to third that Brock caught for the third out.

Ball fashioned a 1-2-3 top of the fourth inning, keeping the score at 5-1. Law drew a leadoff walk during Liberty's fourth time to bat. Crisante followed with a two-run homer to left center field, drawing the Lady Flames to within two, 5-3.

Charleston Southern went in order again in the fifth frame. Strickland singled to right center with one out in the bottom half, and Zavodny reached on a throwing error. With runners on second and third and two outs, Dowdy worked out of the jam with an inning-ending groundout.

The Buccaneers tacked on two runs on a homer by Brock in the top of the sixth inning. She went deep to left center after a walk to Kelleher.

Liberty tied the game on one swing in the bottom of the sixth when Strickland hit a grand slam. Shivock sent a base hit to left to put runners on the corners after two outs. Kaylee West walked, loading the bases for Strickland, who tied the game at 7-7 with a home run to right center.

With nobody out and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, Stickney struck out, and Adams lined out to short for the second out. Ball walked Kelleher, sending the go-ahead run home.

Down to their last strike, the Lady Flames evened the game at 8-8 on an opposite-field RBI double by Nichols. A third-out groundout sent the game to extra innings.

CSU stranded two runners in scoring position during the eighth when Trea Steele grounded out.

Giles entered the circle in relief of Dowdy in the bottom of the eighth. Shivock doubled down the right field line to lead off, and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by West. After two outs, Giles intentionally walked Zavodny, and then Stephens drew a free pass. Law singled, driving in Shivock with the game-winning run.

Liberty remains home, and will finish its 10-game homestand with a doubleheader against North Carolina A&T, Tuesday. The first game on Tuesday is set to begin at 2:00pm.

Charleston Southern hosts a doubleheader against Coastal Carolina on April 10.  The first game is scheduled to start at 3:00pm.

Campbell 2, Gardner-Webb 1

Campbell's softball team (20-20, 5-4 Big South) won a close 2-1 game in the series finale against Gardner-Webb (17-21, 4-6 Big South) on Saturday, April 7, at Varsity Field.

Olivia Scarborough (4-2) threw her four complete game of the season. She went seven innings and allowed just five hits and one run. The loss was taken by Jessica Childers (4-8). Childers pitched 3.2 innings and struck out five.

The Runnin' Bulldogs started the scoring with a run in the first inning. Savannah Burns drew a two-out walk. McKenzie Morenus moved her all the way to third with her single. Morgan Baker drove in Burns with her single down the left field line.

The Camels picked up the team's first hit of the day on freshman Kerstine Womack's single just over drawn in infield in the third inning.

CU took the lead in the fourth inning. Junior Sarah Forgacs was hit by a pitch to lead-off the inning. Freshman Stephanie Jones then single to right. Raven Lee then hit ball to short that was fielded cleanly. Forgacs was called for runner's interference despite running behind the fielder to give Lee a single on the play. After a strikeout, freshman Kailey Farmer was able to hit a two-out double down the left field line to plate Jones and pinch runner Camise Patterson on the play.

The CU defense came up with a big pair of caught stealing's to end the fifth inning. Burns was hit by a pitch with one out. She moved to second and then to third on consecutive wild pitches Morenus then walked to put runners on the corners. Kellie Beres was inserted to run for Burns and Taylor Pridgen ran for Morenus. Gardner-Webb then attempted to run a first and third play. The throw from senior Taylor McGee was cut off by second baseman Shaela Churchill. She then flipped to Ericka Nesbitt at second base, who threw to freshman Erica Johnson at first, who threw it back to McGee at the plate to cut down Beres. McGee then threw the ball back to eliminate Pridgen, who was attempting to take second on the play to end the threat and inning.

Farmer made a great diving catch in left field to start the sixth inning for CU to thwart off a potential Bulldog rally before it began.

Scarborough survived an interesting seventh inning. Melinda Dulkowski was hit by a pitch with one out. Meenaghan was then retired on a close play first to move the tying run to second base. Jordyn Arrowood then grounded out to the CU second baseman to end the contest.

Campbell next travels to Raleigh, N.C. to take on North Carolina State for a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 11, starting at 4:00pm.

Gardner-Webb next hosts Charlotte for a doubleheader on April 11.  The first game will start at 2:00pm.

Radford 9, Coastal Carolina 3

Powered by three long balls and a five-run fourth, Radford Softball tallied nine unanswered runs to earn a 9-3 Big South series-clinching victory over Coastal Carolina, Saturday afternoon from RU Softball.
 
After the Chanticleers (30-13, 7-4 Big South) raced out to a 3-0 first-inning lead, the Highlanders (21-10, 7-2) scored two in the first, one in the third and took the lead for good with the five-run fourth.
 
After a bases load walk put the Highlanders ahead, 4-3, back-to-back two-run singles by freshmen Micalah Sacre and Julie Harriss ballooned Radford’s lead to 8-3.
 
It was the first collegiate hit and RBI for Harriss, who finished 1-for-3 with 2 RBI. Junior Ryndee Ruch hit her first collegiate home run and was 2-for-3 with two runs and a RBI. Junior Morgan Eye and senior Vicki Madden also went deep for the Highlanders.

Coastal led 3-2 after one inning. The Chanticleers took advantage of an error and wild pitch, sandwiched around an RBI single by Cacia Pierre for a 3-0 lead.
 
The Highlanders got two back in the bottom half of the frame on Madden’s two-out, two-run long ball to dead center. Eye evened the contest at 3-apiece in the bottom of the third with a one-out shot over the leftfield fence.

Ruch gave Radford a 9-3 cushion in the fifth with a solo shot over the scoreboard in left.

Junior Jackie Jenkins picked up the complete game win after a tough first inning in which she allowed two hits and two earned runs, hit at batter and recorded a wild pitch. In her final six frames, only three Chanticleers reached base on two hits and a walk. Jenkins (9-3) finished the afternoon, allowing two earned runs on four hits She fanned three and walked one.

Kiana Quolas suffered the defeat for Coastal. She surrendered eight runs, seven earned, on six hits with four walks. Ashley Bagwell came in for the final three frames and gave up a run on two hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
 
Four different Chanticleers recorded a hit, which included doubles of the bats of Kory Hayden and Brooke Donovan.
 
Radford steps out of conference play on Tuesday, April 10 at 3:00pm for a road test at No. 10 Tennessee.

Coastal Carolina travels to Charleston Southern on April 10 at 3:00pm.

Presbyterian 6, Winthrop 1

Tera Powell went three for four with three RBI, including a two-run single in the fourth inning, to lead the Presbyterian College softball team to the 6-1 win over Winthrop in action this afternoon at the PC Softball Complex in Clinton, S.C.

The Blue Hose earn the three-game sweep over the Eagles to go to 13-20 overall and 5-5 n the Big South.  Winthrop drops to 13-27, 2-10.

Rachel Hopper hit her first home run of the season with a solo shot in the second inning to give the Blue Hose the early 1-0 lead.

Winthrop responded with a run in the fourth to knot the game up after McKenzi Corn led off the inning with a single and came home off a sacrifice fly by Kelly Blea.

The Blue Hose opened the fourth with a walk and three straight singles, including Powell's to make it 3-1, PC.  Shelby Petik, who went two for four with two RBI, sent two more runners home two batters later with a double to right center and the Blue Hose led 5-1 after four.

PC added a run in the fifth after Mary Ellen Morris scored when Powell singled through the left side to make it 6-1.

Winthrop threatened in the bottom of the seventh and loaded the bases with one out before Corn hit a fly ball to left hoping to bring in the runner from third but she left base early and was tagged out on appeal to end the game.

Kensley Loudermelk won her third game in as many tries, going 4.0 innings, scattering two hits and one earned run.  Leslie Hensley came in relief and went 3.0 innings.

PC out-hit the Eagles, 10-6 with both teams committing one error apiece.

The Blue Hose host Furman Tuesday, April 10 in a non-Conference doubleheader starting at 2:00pm.

Winthrop hosts Western Carolina on April 11 at 4:00pm.