GWU Softball Season Comes to an End on Saturday Night in 8-0 Loss to No. 3 Charleston Southern
May 13, 2012 | Softball
Radford, Va. - No. 3 Charleston Southern jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning, while No. 5 Gardner-Webb simply ran out of gas in their fifth game in less than three days, as the Runnin' Bulldogs season came to an end with an 8-0 five-inning loss to the Buccaneers in game 14 of the 2012 Big South Softball Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting and Brookwood Farms Barbeque Saturday night at Radford Softball Field in Radford, Va.
With the loss, the Runnin' Bulldogs season comes to an end, while Charleston Southern will move on to the championship game with the win.
The Runnin' Bulldogs' lead-off hitter Samantha Meenaghan started the game off with an infield single to the left side and was immediately bumped up to second with a sacrifice bunt by junior Jordyn Arrowood. However, Charleston Southern starter Morgan Dowdy got the next two GWU batters to strikeout looking to end the top of the first.
Charleston Southern got on the scoreboard first in the bottom half of the first, as shortstop Megan Lombard led off with a single to left, which was followed by a single up the middle by Kristin Kelleher and another single to left by Jessica Brock to load the bases for the Buccaneers.
After a pop out to second was the first out of the inning, third-baseman Stephanie Sbardella singled to left field to drive in Lombard from third and put the home team up early at 1-0. First-baseman Linzy Rother followed up with a double to left center field to drive in two and put the Buccaneers on top 3-0 after one inning of play.
A Buccaneer fielding error in the top of the third allowed Meenaghan to reach base safely, yet again was stranded at second once more as the Runnin' Bulldogs failed to score keeping the score at 3-0 in favor of Charleston Southern.
The Bucs added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth, as CSU took advantage of three hits and a GWU throwing error to push their lead to 6-0 after four innings of play.
A bases loaded double by outfielder Melissa Adams in the bottom of the fifth finished the game out, as her two RBI gave the Buccaneers the 8-0 five-inning win.
GWU's Jessica Childers (8-14) suffered the loss, as she gave up three runs on three hits without recording an out in the game. Redshirt-senior Cindy Boomhower allowed five runs, only one of which was earned, on eight hits and four strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work.
Dowdy (20-12) posted the victory, as she allowed only two hits and struck out six in five innings of work.
At the plate for GWU, Meenaghan was 1-for-3, while Melinda Dulkowski was 1-for-2 for the game.
For Charleston Southern, who posted 10 hits in the contest, Rother was 3-for-3 with two RBI, while Adams was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI.
With the loss, the Runnin' Bulldogs season comes to an end at 28-28 overall and for the second straight year will come up one win short of their first-ever trip to the Big South Softball Championship game.
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Head Coach Tom Cole - GWU
"It was a tough loss to end the tournament with because it in no
way reflected the way we played for the entire tournament. I am
proud of the girls and the way they played and it is just a tough
way to end the season."
| Box Score: No. 3 Charlesotn Southern 8, No. 5 GWU 0 |
