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Box Score 2 www.winthropphotos.comROCK HILL, SC— Winthrop softball ran into a hot Coastal Carolina team as it dropped a doubleheader with losses of 7-1 and 15-4, Saturday afternoon at Terry Field.
Winthrop fell to 26-23 overall and 12-11 in the Big South while Coastal Carolina improved to 37-14 overall and 19-4 in the league. The two teams will wrap-up the series on Sunday starting at 1 p.m. with the Eagles honoring their seniors in a pregame ceremony.
It was a tough afternoon for Winthrop pitching as five pitches combined to allow 16 runs on 21 hits while issuing 16 walks in the two games combined. Winthrop managed just five runs in the two games on 10 hits and left 10 runners stranded.
Winthrop led 4-0 after three innings thanks to a three-run home run to left center by senior
McKenzi Corn in the bottom of the third. It was a long ball that gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the second when senior
Alex White hit a first pitch homer to left.
Then starter
Dallas King ran into trouble in the fourth as Sara Rasley cracked a three-run home run to left center to tie the game at 4-4. King was removed after getting a 2-0 on the next batter before
Sara Allen replaced her in the pitching circle. In addition to the Rasley home run, Kory Hayden hit a three-run shot to highlight an 11-run inning for the Chanticleers.
King took the loss in the second game after allowing five runs on eight hits with two walks and a strikeout in three innings as she falls to 5-4 on the year. Allen relieved her and then head coach
Mark Cooke was forced to use three more pitchers as
Sutton Watson,
Bradlee Holeman and
Megan Winningham all saw time in the pitching circle.
Rasley finished with two hits and four RBI to lead the Chanticleers while Hayden had two hits, three runs and three RBI. Ashley Bagwell tossed a complete game for the Chanticleers to earn her 14
th victory of the season after allowing four runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
The bottom four batters in the order for the Chanticleers in game two combined to go 7-for-9 with eight runs and seven RBI. In the two games combined, the bottom four batters for Coastal were 11-for-19 with 14 runs and nine RBI.
Corn's home run extended her streak of reaching base in conference games only to 14 straight.
Naomi Stevens extended her streak of reaching base in league games to 13 straight.
Allen, White, Stevens and
Kelsey Ritter each finished with two hits on the day. White finished 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI with two solo home runs. White now has 16 career home runs and moves into a tie for 7
th all-time at Winthrop.
In the first game of the day, Coastal had a four-run 4
th inning that opened up the game as it led 6-0 before the Eagles got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on White's solo home run.
Kiana Quolas for Coastal earned the win in the pitching circle as she allowed the one run on five hits with four walks and 10 strikeouts to improve to 23-5. Allen took the loss and is now 12-10 after allowing seven runs on seven hits with six walks and six strikeouts.
