MURFREESBORO, N.C.- The Coker College softball team took the field as the visitor at Chowan in a non-conference series in their final games in March. The Cobras collected two wins, 8-6 and 13-0 (5), in their efforts.
Game One
The Cobras took an early 3-0 in the second inning on their way to victory. Lilli Otten led off the inning with a walk, moving over to second on a Brianna Strickland sacrifice bunt. Mindy North put runners on the corners on a single up the middle. North stole second to have two in scoring position. Anna Gluhosky drove both Otten and North home on a double to right field. Gluhosky moved to third on a wild pitch. Katelyn Chambers reached first after earning a walk. Chambers stole second while Gluhosky scored on the throw.
Coker tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Cacey Simmons singled through the right side and stole second. Hannah Goodman followed with a single through the left side to put runners once again on the corners. Otten stepped in and grounded out to the second baseman for a RBI, scoring Simmons. Strickland singled through the left side, advancing Goodman to third. She stole second, with North drawing a walk to load the bases for Gluhosky. Gluhosky hit a sacrifice fly to right field to move up the runners and scoring Goodman.
The Hawks retaliated in the fifth and sixth innings to bring the score to 6-5 in Chowan's favor.
In their last three outs, the Navy and Gold made a comeback for the 8-6 victory. Otten made it to second as the lead off batter on a throwing error by the pitcher, with Courtney Boan coming in to pinch run. Strickland also reached second on a throwing error, but this time by the third baseman, and Boan advanced to third on the play. North reached on a fielder's choice, advancing to second on the throw, with Strickland landing at third, and Boan scoring unearned on a throwing error by the pitcher. Gluhosky drew a walk to load the bases. Makayla Shore came to the plate as a pinch hitter for Chambers and was hit by a pitch to move everyone up a base, scoring Strickland. Maria Williamson knocked a sacrifice fly to the right fielder as the winning run, allowing North to touch home plate.
The trio of Taylor Forehand, Strickland, and Nikki Linthicum united to allow six runs on eight hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts in the close win.
Game Two
Coker was silent in the first inning of game two, but scored an outrageous 10 runs in the top of the second on their way to a 13-0 run-rule win in five innings.
Linthicum singled through the left side and stole second to get a runner in scoring position with one out in the second. Rebekah Addison came in as a pinch runner for Linthicum. North, Gluhosky, and Alex Alverson earned back-to-back-to-back walks to load the bases and score Addison. Williamson singled up the middle, plating North and Gluhosky. Alverson advanced to third on a wild pitch and home on a Hannah Price singled up the middle to bring the score to 4-0. Price and Williamson moved to second and third, respectively, on a wild pitch. Simmons walked to make the bases full. Otten reached first on a fielder's choice with Williamson called out at home. Shore walked with the bases juiced to score Price. Addison reached on a fielding error by the shortstop, allowing Simmons to score unearned. North was hit by a pitch to plate Otten. Gluhosky hit a two RBI single up the middle, letting Addison and Shore return to the dugout after touching home. Alverson followed up with a single up the middle as well, scoring North for the 10th run of the inning.
The Cobras were not satisfied as they extended their lead by three runs in the third inning. Otten singled through the left side and Shore collected a double to left center to put runners on second and third. A wild pitch score Otten and put Shore on third before Morgan Richardson as a pinch hitter for Linthicum, drew a walk. North grounded out to the pitcher, advancing Richardson to second. Gluhosky hit a two RBI single to right center, bringing in the 12th and 13th runs in Shore and Richardson.
Forehand and Linthicum combined for a stellar outing in game two, only giving up a collective two hits and four walks, alongside nine strikeouts.
The Navy and Gold (24-12) return to Saleeby-Stokes Field in Hartsville on Tuesday, April 3, for a conference doubleheader versus the No. 19 Queens University of Charlotte Royals. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.