Bucs Fall to Runnin' Bulldogs, 3-2, in Eight Innings

CHARLESTON, S.C. – With darkness falling, a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning by Ari Tedesco tied the game at 1-1 Friday, April 22 at Buccaneer Field. The contest between Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb was then halted due to darkness with two Buccaneers on base. Gardner-Webb scored twice in the top of the eighth and held on for a 3-2 win in a game that was completed Saturday.

Friday’s game was delayed a total of four hours and 25 minutes before the eventual 6:25 first pitch.

CSU fell to 21-29 on the season, including 7-6 in Big South play, while Gardner-Webb improved to 12-23, 4-9 in conference games.

The Buccaneers trailed, 1-0, heading into the seventh inning. Jana Matthews made a fine diving catch in left field to record the first out of the top of the inning, and GWU promptly went in order.

CSU, down to its last time to bat, received a one-out base runner as Trea Steele singled to left field. Lizzy Olmstead pinch ran for Steele, and moved to second on a Holdsworth walk with two outs. Tedesco then bounced a hit into center field, and Olmstead scampered home for the game-tying run. Play was then halted due to darkness. When play resumed Saturday, Kristin Kelleher singled to load the bases. Megan Lombard then sent a sharp liner that was caught by the third baseman to end the inning.

Gardner-Webb scored twice on the same play in the top of the eighth. Kelsey Witter tripled to lead off the inning, and scored on a squeeze play. Melinda Dulkowski kept running, drawing an errant throw that went all the way to the wall, scoring Dulkowski for a 3-1 GWU lead.

The Bucs loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth on singles by Erin Kegley, Jana Matthews and Stephanie Sbardella. Holdsworth walked to drive in one run, but a groundout ended game one with Gardner-Webb winning, 3-2.

Morgan Dowdy (9-18) drew the loss, allowing two earned runs on four hits in eight inning pitched. Jessica Childers yielded two runs on eight hits.

Eight different Buccaneers recorded singles, including Tedesco’s RBI hit. Holdsworth reached base all three times, as she singled and drew three walks.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs recorded four hits in the game, with Witter registering two of those and scoring two runs. Witter hit a triple to lead off the eighth.

CSU had its leadoff batter reach base in each of the first four innings of the game, as Megan Lombard and Steele were hit by pitch in the first and second innings, respectively. Kristin Kelleher walked to start the third for CSU, and Brock singled as the first batter in the fourth. Gardner-Webb's catcher, McKenzie Morenus, picked off Lombard in the first inning, and caught Courtney Konyk off first base in the third inning, derailing a pair of scoring chances.

Gardner-Webb scored its lone run to this point in the third inning, as Kelsey Witter led off with a single. She advanced to second on a groundout, and got to third on a heads-up play after a foulout down the first-base line. Witter then scored on a slap single by Samantha Meenaghan for a 1-0 lead. Dowdy then faced one batter over the minimum in the fourth through seventh innings.

Despite going in order in the sixth, the Bucs put three good swings on the ball. Lombard drove a flyout to medium deep center field, and Erin Kegley and Brock smashed shots that pitcher Childers stopped for the last two outs of the sixth.

The Buccaneers and Runnin' Bulldogs then split the doubleheader on Saturday, with GWU taking the series, two games to one.