No. 5 Bulldogs and No. 4 Charleston Southern Game Delayed By Lightning at 2-2 in the Bottom of the Eighth
May 09, 2009 | Softball
Radford, Va.– The Gardner-Webb softball team are in a bind, as Coach Cole and his squad had its game with the No. 4 Charleston Southern Lady Buccaneers delayed by lightning and heavy rain in the bottom of the eighth with the score knotted up at 2-2.
The game was stopped with Charleston Southern's Lisa Rice on third and Gail Matsushima at the plate with a 2-0 count and two outs.
Charleston Southern used the long ball to get on the board first, as pitcher Jamie Wellons blasted a solo shot over the centerfield wall in the bottom of the second, putting the Lady Buccaneers up early at 1-0.
The Bulldogs threatened in the top of the third inning, as freshman Melinda Dulkowski reached on an infield single with one out. Junior first baseman Christa Fullwood followed with a hard single off the glove of the CSU first baseman, putting runners on first and second with one out. Junior catcher Mandy Ward then grounded to short, where the Lady Buccaneers got a force out at second, putting runners on first and third with two outs. The next GWU batter then grounded back to the pitcher, ending the inning and stranding two base runners.
Charleston Southern starter Wellons again helped her cause in the bottom of the fourth, driving in Megan Hall from third on a sacrifice fly, putting the No. 4 seeded Lady Buccaneers up 2-0.
The Bulldogs finally broke through in the top of the fifth as Melody Harrell led off the inning with a double down the left field line. Dulkowski followed with a single through the right side, putting runners on first and third with no outs. First-Team All-Conference member Fullwood then belted a line drive to left field to score Harrell from third and put the Bulldogs on the board.
Down 2-1, with two on and no outs, Ward blasted a line drive over the head of the left fielder for a double, plating Dulkowski from second to tie the score up at 2-2. Fullwood attempted to score on the play, but was thrown out at home on a bang-bang play for the first out of the inning.
After a CSU pitching change, the Bulldogs again stranded two more runners to end the inning and leave the score knotted at 2-2.
In the bottom half of the fifth the Lady Buccaneers threatened to retake the lead on a single to left, but ultimately had the go ahead run throw out at the plate by left-fielder Kelsey Witter, ending the Charleston Southern scoring attempt.
After the Bulldogs went three-up and three down in the top of the sixth, the Lady Buccaneers threatened to score again in the bottom half, putting the first two batters on base. With runners on first and second, GWU's Christine Murray got Kristen Kelleher to pop out to the catcher for the first out. The next CSU batter Brittany York then hit a line drive to left field where Witter made the catch and threw behind the runner at second, doubling up Gail Matsushima on second for an inning ending double play.
In the seventh the Bulldog defense came up big, turning a first to third double play to end the inning and force the contest into extra innings.
Gardner-Webb failed to score in the top half of the eighth, leaving the door open for the Lady Buccaneers in the bottom half of the inning. The first two batters made outs for Charleston Southern, bringing up Matsushima with a runner on second base. With a 2-0 count on Matsushima the game was suspended due to lightning.
Then the sky opened up and heavy rains came down postponing the conclusion of the game until tomorrow.
For the game the Bulldogs had 12 hits, yet stranded 11 runners on base.
The game has been postponed until tomorrow and will pick up where it left off at 12 noon on Saturday, May 9.
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