CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern gave defending Big South champion and preseason favorite Campbell all it could handle Sunday afternoon but the Buccaneers fell just short in both games of the doubleheader at CSU Softball Complex. The Camels escaped with a 5-4 eight inning win in the first contest before taking a 3-1 triumph in the second to conclude the weekend series.

GAME 1 | CAMPBELL 5, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 4 (8 INNINGS)
The Bucs jumped out in front with the game's first run, the same way they had in Saturday's series-opening victory, when Raleigh Lewis belted a two-out home run to left center to give CSU the 1-0 advantage through the first inning.

Charleston Southern (9-11, 1-1 Big South) starter in the circle Blake Holtorf kept the visitors off the scoreboard until the top of the fourth frame, including three strikeouts swinging to lead off the contest and working around one Camels hit in each of the first-three innings.

In the top of the fourth, Sterling Hairston led off the inning with a game-tying home run to left. Samantha Fontaine then reached base two batters later, eventually working her way over to third on a sacrifice bunt and a Tyra Parker single. Parker then stole second to put two runners in scoring position, but an Alyssa Henault lineout to Ashley Meckley at short, a web-gem backhanded snare, ended the threat and left the score level at 1-1.

The Buccaneers reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth, as Madison Koger started the offense with a single up the middle. She moved to third on an Erika Cooper double to the right-center gap, putting two runners within 120 feet of home plate with one out. Meckley then singled to left, and with nifty base running by stalling a throw to any base by the Campbell (12-7, 1-1 Big South) defense, it allowed Koger to trot home, Cooper to advance to third and Meckley slipped behind to second base. Weslin Jones walked to load the bases but the Camels forced a fly out to centerfield to stop the CSU attack with just one run across for the 2-1 led.

Campbell used its top-half of the sixth to get its offense going, starting with a Fontaine double and then moving to third on a sacrifice bunt. She came home on a single by Parker, again evening the score before Henault doubled, bringing Parker home. Henault was out on the play as she attempted to stretch her double to three bases but was caught on the relay coming in from the infield.

The Camels widened their lead to 4-2 in the top of the seventh when Claudia Ware led off with a home run to center. Two other CU runners reached base but neither added to the scoreline.

Charleston Southern then rallied in the bottom of the seventh with Meckley the first to reach base on a walk. She moved to second as Lewis also induced a base on balls. Holtorf, the starter, then entered as a pinch runner for Lewis. Gracie Prince followed with a single, bringing Meckley home and advancing Holtorf to second. SeaEnna Satcher knocked in Holtorf with the squad's second-straight single, putting runners once again on first and second, but the Bucs were unable to get the winning run across, forcing extra innings with a 4-4 score.

Two singles for Campbell in the top of the eight, by Parker and Delaney McDilda, highlighted the offense with McDilda's one-out single up the middle plating Parker, who had stolen second and advanced to third on a CSU fielding error. The inning concluded with Ware lining into a double-play to Koger at second base, who tossed it over to Cooper for the final out. The Bucs went down 1-2-3 to end the game.

Koger finished 2-of-4 at the plate, the only Buccaneer with multiple hits, while five others in the lineup each had one hit. Holtorf went the distance for her second career complete game, striking out four and scattering four earned runs and two walks in the 39 batters she faced.

GAME 2 | CAMPBELL 3, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 1
For the first, and only, time in the series, the Camels claimed the early edge but it not come until the fourth inning in a rematch in the circle between CSU starter Annah Junge and her counterpart Georgeanna Barefoot.

The pitchers' dual from Saturday seemed to be lined up again Sunday afternoon with the first hits not coming until the bottom of the second when Satcher and Koger both singled for the Buccaneers. The first hit off Junge came in the top of the third frame when Henault doubled to right center but the CSU hurler settled in, retiring the next-two batters with the ball not leaving the infield.

Meckley was back on the basepaths in the bottom of the third, reaching on walk and advancing to second on a Jones single. Both runners moved up one base when Lewis grounded out but were unable to put the first run on the scoreboard.

Campbell (13-7, 2-1 Big South) scratched the first runs across in the visitor half of the fourth. Hairston and McDilda quickly reached base on a single and double to begin the frame with Hairston racing home on the extra-base hit. Noemi Cortez was the third-straight Camels player to reach base with a single, putting runners on the corners for White. Erin Rafferty entered as a pinch runner for Cortez, advancing to second on a White walk to load the bases with zero outs.

Junge settled in, catching Lindsey Hunt on a strikeout looking, before a Parker fielder's choice allowed Meckley to throw home to Prince, getting McDilda as the lead runner. Rafferty and White moved up 60 feet on the play, keeping the bases full. Henault drove in the other run of the inning as Rafferty scored to put CU up 2-0 through three-and-a-half.

The Bucs left runners on base over the next two frames but were unable to bring either home. Campbell grew its lead to 3-0 in the top of the fifth, starting with Fontaine doubling down the left field line. She moved to 60 feet away on an out right in front of the plate, as Prince threw down to first to beat Ware. McDilda reached on a walk as the next batter. Cortez followed with a single, plating Fontaine, but the threat wrapped up when McDilda out at home on a relay coming in from left.

Charleston Southern broke free from the shutout in the bottom of the sixth. Satcher doubled to right center before being lifted for Holtorf as a pinch runner. Koger immediately followed with a double of her own, as Holtorf raced home for the 3-1 score.

After Junge sent the Camels back to the dugout with another 1-2-3 inning, the Buccaneers gave themselves one last chance. Meckley ignited the offense with a single to left and moved to second as Jones laid down a perfect bunt right in front of home plate. A hard-hit ball to short put Lewis on first and loaded the bases with just one out. However, that's where the threat ended as back-to-back outs ended the game with the Bucs unable to find a way to bring anyone else home.

Junge again went the full seven innings in the circle, striking out one and allowing the three earned runs with nine hits. Jones, Satcher and Koger each had two hits for the CSU offense.

UP NEXT
Charleston Southern has not time to rest as it will head up the coast to Conway for a Tuesday doubleheader at Coastal Carolina. First pitch of the two-game series is slated for 2 p.m.