Box Score
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ROCK HILL, S.C.--
Alex White's RBI single in the third inning proved to be the game-winner as #5 Winthrop defeated #9 Charleston Southern 2-1, Friday afternoon on Day two of the 2013 Big South Conference Softball Championship presented by Musco Lighting.
Leading 1-0 in the bottom of the third,
McKenzi Corn reached on a one-out single followed by a single by
Chelsey Schoenfeldt. Two batters later, White came through with a single up the middle to score Corn from second.
Winthrop evens its record on the season at 27-27 as it advances to game 13 of the tournament as it remains undefeated and will play the winner of an elimination game between #1 Coastal Carolina and #6 Liberty at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Liberty and Coastal Carolina game started at 9:30 p.m. Friday evening.
"
Sutton Watson threw a tremendous ball game," said head coach
Mark Cooke, whose team has captured wins in the first two games of the tournament. "When the game got really tight in the seventh inning she dug down deep and made the pitches and we had some great defensive plays. Charleston Southern's pitcher Jennifer Giles is one stud on the mound. That is a great pitcher. She's just thrown great this whole weekend. She did a great job and it was just a great ball game.”
The Eagles took the lead in the second inning on a mistake by the Buccaneers when
Christine DeWitt reached on an error by the shortstop, which allowed White to advance to third and
Kathryn Eberlin to score from third after realizing the ball had been mishandled.
The fourth inning was a great opportunity for the Eagles to build a cushion after loaded the bases with no outs, but Giles worked through the heart of the order to keep it a one-run game.
Kristy Noble had first crack at adding more run, but struck out looking. Giles then retired Corn on a fly out to center and got Schoenfeldt to end the inning on a grounder to second base.
Watson turned in a strong performance in the pitching circle for the Eagles as she allowed a run on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts for her 16th victory of the season. Her counterpart Giles allowed two runs (one earned) on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts as she fell to 10-28 on the year.
