LYNCHBURG, VA – On a cold Saturday afternoon in Virginia, the Charleston Southern softball team got hot, as they went 2-0 on the day with wins over Saint Joseph's and Hofstra in the Liberty Softball Classic.
The Buccaneers (5-7) were the first game on Saturday morning, beginning the day with a 4-3 win over Saint Joseph's and followed that with a 4-0 shutout of Hofstra.
Game One
The Buccaneers raced out to a 4-0 lead, scoring in the second, third and fourth innings. After
Weslin Jones made it a 1-0 game in the top of the second inning with an RBI single that scored
Charlee Yourman,
Carsten Sandvig began the second inning with her second home run of the season to make it 2-0.
The Buccaneers made it 3-0, as
Emma Villaescusa stole home, and Sandvig did it again with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to make it 4-0.
In the circle,
Riley Lauffer was excellent through 4.0 innings until she ran into trouble in the fifth inning. She picked up her first win of the season, allowing two runs (1 ER) on four hits, six walks and two strikeouts. She gave way to
Mackenzie Rutkoff, who was able to get out of the fifth inning with a double play.
St. Joseph's got one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run to make it a one-run game, but Rutkoff and
Brenna Conley were able to finish the job, as Conley picked up the save with 0.2 IP and a strikeout to end it.
Game Two
Kinsey Clopton stepped up for the Buccaneers, as the freshman from Bloomington, IN mowed down the Hofstra lineup with 10 strikeouts and only five hits allowed in a complete-game shutout performance.
The Buccaneers got on the board in the third inning, as
Carsten Sandvig brought in
Lorenzza Marcacci and
Harper Schoeneweis with a two-run double.
Charleston Southern was able to scratch across two more in the top of the fifth inning, as Blakeley Kingsmore and Sandvig brought in runs with back-to-back doubles.
As a team, Charleston Southern is hitting .318 to start the season and are slugging .402. They wrap up the Liberty Softball Tournament on Sunday at 10:00 AM with a rematch with Hofstra.
