Bulldogs Fall to Charleston Southern 4-3 in Eight Innings
April 18, 2009 | Softball
Charleston, S.C. – The Gardner-Webb softball team dropped a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon, as the Bulldogs fell to the Lady Buccaneers 4-3 in eight innings in Charleston, S.C.
The loss drops the Bulldogs to 17-22 overall and 6-9 in conference play, while with the win Charleston Southern improves to 23-27 overall and 7-8 in the Big South.
Gardner-Webb got on the board first in second inning, as senior right-fielder Adrienne Smith drove in junior catcher Many Ward from third on a single to right field, giving the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead.
Charleston Southern battled back to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth, as first-baseman Megan Hall had an RBI single to tie the score up at 1-1, while two batters and a GWU error later, right-fielder Jamie Wellons doubled home Hall from second to give the Lady Buccaneers a 2-1 lead. With one out and runners on second and third, designated player Lisa Rice gave Charleston Southern a 3-1, as she hit a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Gail Matsushima, who had reached base earlier in the inning on the GWU fielding blunder.
With the Lady Buccaneers offense finally breaking through, it was the Bulldogs who found themselves trailing heading into the fifth inning. Yet the Bulldogs did not roll over, as Gardner-Webb scored two runs in the fifth on a Christa Fullwood double to left center, which plated both freshman Jane Savage and junior Melody Harrell, to knot the score up at 3-3.
Despite both teams getting a base runner in each of its next two at bats, neither team could push ahead the go ahead run sending the game into extra innings.
After the Bulldogs failed to score in the top of the eighth, the Lady Buccaneers capitalized, as Wellons knocked a two-out RBI single to left to plate Hall from third and give Charleston Southern the 4-3 extra inning win.
GWU's Christine Murray (9-14) suffered the loss, as the junior right-hander gave up four runs, of which only three were earned, on seven hits while striking out eight Charleston Southern hitters in 7.2 innings of play.
The win went to Charleston Southern's Wellons (12-16), as she surrendered only two hits over the final 3.1 innings of play.
Offensively, the Bulldogs, who out hit the Lady Buccaneers 9-7 for the game, was led by Fullwood, who was 2-4 with a double and two RBIs, and Ward, who was 2-4 with a run scored. Smith was 1-4 with an RBI, while Harrell was 2-5 with a run scored.
For Charleston Southern, Wellons was 3-4 with a double and two RBIs, including the game winning RBI single in the eighth.
The Bulldogs will play its final home games of the 2009 season on Tuesday, April 21, when Coach Cole's squad will play host to the Winthrop Lady Eagles in a Big South Conference doubleheader at 2 p.m.
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| Box Score - Charleston Southern 4, Gardner-Webb 3 (8 innings) |
