CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston Southern softball team claimed a 10-9 victory in nine innings over ACC opponent Virginia Tech Friday, Feb. 18 to open the home schedule at the Buccaneer Invite. Trea Steele hit an RBI single with the bases loaded to clinch the 10-9 score.

With the win, CSU improves to 3-2 on the season, winning its last three ballgames in a row. Virginia Tech fell to 4-2, losing its second game of the day in walk-off fashion, as the Hokies dropped a 2-1 game to Ohio earlier Friday.

Charleston Southern has now won the home opener in each of Head Coach Shane Winkler's three seasons.

The Buccaneers led for a majority of the game, building an 8-1 lead in the fifth inning. Virginia Tech stormed back to tie it at 8-8 in the top of the seventh. With the International tie-breaker in effect, both teams scored once in the eighth. Kimberly Hobbs then worked out of trouble in the ninth before CSU's winning rally.

Trea Steele went 3-for-5 at the plate, scoring a career-high-tying two runs while driving in a pair. Freshman Stephanie Sbardella batted 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI. Megan Lombard hit 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.

Hobbs picked up the win, her first of the year, allowing just one hit and no earned runs in the final two and two-thirds innings of the game after relieving Morgan Dowdy.

Virginia Tech registered 14 hits, but also committed four errors, as only three CSU runs were earned. Dani Anderson batted 4-for-5, while Courtney Liddle, Kat Banks and Betty Rose all added two hits. Ashton Ward drew the loss in three innings of relief work.

The Buccaneers took control of the game early, as Dowdy allowed just two hits over the first three innings. While Virginia Tech's bats remained cool, CSU claimed the lead on a Sbardella RBI double in the bottom of the second.

CSU tacked on five runs in the bottom of the third to take a 6-0 lead. VT committed three errors, and the Bucs took advantage of their opportunities by registering three hits for five runs. Matthews recorded an RBI while reaching on an error with one out. After a Trea Steele RBI hit, Sbardella added a two-RBI single to boost CSU's advantage to six runs.

Virginia Tech scored once in the top of the fourth, making it 6-1. CSU responded with a run-producing double by Matthews in the bottom half, and scored its eighth run when Lombard drove in Lizzy Olmstead with a double in the fifth. Lombard was thrown out at third while trying to stretch the double, and VT retired the next batter.

The Hokies scored three times in the sixth inning, pulling to within four at 8-4 as they started to generate more offense. Kat Banks and Ward drove in runs for VT, helping the team pull closer.

After a scoreless CSU sixth, VT pushed across four runs in its final regulation at-bat to tie the game at 8-8. A Betty Rose homer tied the score.

Virginia Tech scored once in the eighth, and CSU answered as Lombard singled in Hayes Holdsworth. The Hokies left two runners on base in the eighth, and were held scoreless in the ninth. CSU's half of the ninth decided the game, CSU's first walk-off win of the season.

The Buccaneers started their second game of the day, against Mercer, but had it halted during the fifth inning due to darkness. The teams will complete the game Saturday at 8 a.m., prior to Saturday's regularly-scheduled contests. CSU is then slated to take on Ohio (3-4) at 11 a.m. before competing in either the championship game or consolation round in the afternoon.

Postgame Video Interview and Highlights