CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern softball plays its final home series of the season this weekend when it welcomes Gardner-Webb for a three-game series Friday and Saturday at the CSU Softball Field.
 
Weekend Schedule
Friday, April 9
Charleston Southern vs. Gardner-Webb
6 p.m. * Charleston, S.C. * CSU Softball Field * Live Stats
 
Saturday, April 10
Charleston Southern vs. Gardner-Webb (DH)
Noon * Charleston, S.C. * CSU Softball Field * Live Stats
 
Game Notes
Charleston Southern

Senior Weekend
With this weekend being the final home series of the 2021 season, Charleston Southern will honor seniors Meghan Gagliano, Holly Clark, Alyssa Heinrich and Dominique Mannerino for their contributions to the Buccaneer softball program over the last five seasons. The Senior Day ceremony will take place after the conclusion of Saturday's doubleheader.
 
Recapping Wednesday
Charleston Southern opened the scoring in Wednesday's doubleheader at South Carolina, but the Gamecocks swept both games from the visiting Bucs.
 
South Carolina won the first game, 9-2, and won the second game in run-rule fashion, 8-0, in five innings.
 
Ashley Meckley accounted for both of Charleston Southern's runs batted in with a two-run homer, her team-leading seventh of the season. Meckley, Madison Koger and Sarah Brown each had hits in the first game, while Meghan Gagliano had a hit in the second game.
 
South Carolina had a five-run inning in each game to break both games open. The Gamecocks had a 4-2 lead in the first game prior to scoring five in the fifth and led 2-0 in the second game before scoring four in the fourth.
 
Recapping Last Weekend
The Bucs went 1-2 last weekend against Winthrop, splitting a Saturday doubleheader after dropping the series opener on Friday.
 
Despite losing two of three, Charleston Southern pitchers allowed just eight earned runs in the three-game series and posted a 2.67 ERA in 21.0 innings pitched against the Eagles. Baylee Eaton pitched her first complete game of the season in the Bucs' 2-1 win on Saturday, allowing just three hits and one run with a pair of strikeouts in 7.0 innings.
 
Charleston Southern had the lead in all three games of the series, but Winthrop rallied with three late runs to win the series opener, 4-3, and used a pair of two-run extra-base hits to win the series finale, 4-1. Eaton's complete game in the middle game of the series gave the Bucs their lone win of the weekend in a 2-1 pitchers' duel.
 
Six different Bucs had at least one multi-hit game during the three-game set. Ashley Meckley and Erika Cooper both recorded extra-base hits during the series, while SeaEnna Satcher led Charleston Southern with four hits against the Eagles.
 
Season Leaders
Brewington is the Bucs' leader among its regular starters in batting average at .352 and hits with 25. Meckley has seven homers and four doubles to lead CSU in extra-base hits and also has 13 runs batted in to lead the team in that category as well. Brown and Satcher have nine RBI's apiece, while Brewington has a team-high seven stolen bases.
 
In the circle, Eaton leads the Bucs in ERA at 4.23 while limiting opponents to a .254 batting average. Annah Junge has a team-high 21 strikeouts while pitching a team-best 36.1 innings. Eaton also leads the team with three wins.
 
What to Watch For
CSU remains the lone team in the Big South to be perfect on stolen base attempts. The Bucs are 25-for-25 this season, with Brewington's 9-for-9 mark leading the way.
 
Meckley has homered against each of Charleston Southern's last three opponents (College of Charleston, Winthrop, South Carolina).
 
Six of the Bucs' regular starters are hitting above .250, including a pair over .300 in Brewington and Koger.
 
The CSU defense has gone three straight games without committing an error, the longest such streak for the Bucs this season.
 
The Bucs have yet to play a game outside the state of South Carolina this season. CSU opens with 20 of its first 25 games at home, with its only road trips so far being to Presbyterian and South Carolina.
 
Scouting Gardner-Webb
Gardner-Webb enters the weekend at 4-21 overall and 3-11 in Big South play. The Runnin' Bulldogs were swept by Campbell in a three-game series in their most recent contests. This will be GWU's first road games since a March 23 doubleheader at Winthrop.
 
Leslie McNeil leads the Runnin' Bulldogs with a .298 average. Andrea Lyon has a team-high three homers and nine RBI's, while Weslyn Almond leads GWU with two doubles and five stolen bases.
 
In the circle, Brooke Perry has pitched the bulk of the innings for the Runnin' Bulldogs and has a 3-11 record with a 5.12 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 67.0 innings across 15 appearances, 14 of which were starts. Just three GWU pitchers have logged at least 20 innings in the circle this season – Andrea Lyon has a 4.91 ERA in 35.2 innings, while Laken Myers has an 8.46 ERA in 22.1 innings. That trio has combined to start 24 of the 25 games for the Runnin' Bulldogs this season.
 
Series Breakdown
Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb have met 44 times on the diamond prior to this weekend. The series dates back to 2002, when Gardner-Webb was in the process of reclassifying to Division I. CSU won the inaugural meeting between the programs, 9-3, in a neutral-site game played at Georgia State.
 
Gardner-Webb has a 27-17 advantage in the all-time series, though the Bucs won the last contest between the teams back in 2019. The Runnin' Bulldogs have a slim 10-8 lead in games played at the CSU Softball Field.
 
Coming Up on the Schedule
Charleston Southern plays its first games outside the state of South Carolina Tuesday when it heads to Georgia Southern for a midweek doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.
 
Next Five Opponents

• April 13 at Georgia Southern (DH)
• April 17-18 at Campbell
• April 20 at Furman (DH)
• April 24-25 at Longwood
• May 4 vs. College of Charleston (DH)

 
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