Bulldogs Use Huge First Inning to Defeat No. 6 Coastal Carolina 12-8
May 08, 2009 | Softball
Radford, Va.– The No. 5 Bulldogs used a huge first inning offensively, scoring eight runs on seven hits and taking advantage of two Coastal Carolina fielding errors to defeat the No. 6 Lady Chanticleers 12-8 and eliminate them from the tournament.
The 20 combined runs between the two teams for the game is the third most ever in Big South Softball Championship history, as Charleston Southern and Radford combined for 27 runs in 1993 and East Carolina and UNC Greensboro combined for 22 runs in the 1996 Championship game.
With the win the Bulldogs move to 19-26 overall, while Coastal Carolina finishes the season 15-38.
After connecting on only one hit in its loss to No. 1 Radford on Thursday afternoon, the Bulldogs offense came to life against No. 6 Coastal Carolina on Friday morning, as the first seven Gardner-Webb hitters reached base safely on five hits, a walk and a Lady Chanticleer throwing error to push the Bulldogs up big early at 6-0.
The hot bats did not stop there as after Coastal Carolina picked up its first out of the inning on a pop fly, freshman designated player Jane Savage reached base on a fielding error to put two runners on with one out. Junior shortstop Melody Harrell, who led off the inning with a single, hit a single to left field to score Smith from third second and put the Bulldogs up 7-0. After centerfielder Melinda Dulkowski line out to first, junior first baseman Christa Fullwood singled to short to drive in Savage from third and give the Bulldogs a demanding 8-0 lead.
Coastal Carolina got one run back in the top of the second, as Sarah Maples led off the inning with a base on balls and later scored on a throwing error by Gardner-Webb to cut the lead to seven at 8-1.
The Lady Chanticleers added two more runs in the top of the third by way of two-run home run off the bat of clean up hitter Stacy Snellings to cut the Bulldog lead to five at 8-3.
Yet the Bulldogs responded with another huge inning, as Coach Cole's squad scored four runs on five hits highlighted by back-to-back RBI doubles by Harrell and Fullwood, pushing the Bulldogs out to a 12-3 advantage.
However, Coastal Carolina would not go away, as the Lady Chanticleers scored five runs in the top of the fourth, again cutting back into the Bulldogs lead, putting the score at 12-8 with three and a-half innings in the books.
Both teams offense went scoreless over the next three plus innings, as GWU junior hurler Christine Murray, who started the game and pitched the first three innings, returned in the fourth and shut down the Coastal Carolina offense over the final 3.1 innings to give the Bulldogs the 12-8 win.
Murray (11-16) picked up the win, her second of the tournament, as she went 6.1 innings giving up three runs, two of which were earned, on four hits while striking out nine along the way.
At the plate, Fullwood was 3-3 with three RBI and two runs scored, while Harrell was 3-4 with a double, two RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base. Dulkowski was 2-4 with a double, RBI and two runs scored, while Witter was 1-4 with a double and an RBI.
For Coastal Carolina, Birnbaum was 2-2 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Snellings was 1-3 with a two-run home run.
With the win the Bulldogs will next play at 6 p.m., taking on the winner of the contest between No. 2 Winthrop and No. 4 Charleston Southern.
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| Box Score: GWU 12, Coastal Carolina 8 |
