HARTSVILLE, S.C.- The Coker College softball team wrapped up their home schedule on Tuesday (April 17) afternoon against the Catawba College Indians. The Cobras swept the visitors by scores of 3-2 (8) and 4-1.
Game One
An extra-inning thriller set the tone for the afternoon as a pitching duel.
No run for either side crossed the plate until the fifth inning.
Catawba scored one on a sacrifice fly after a double and a sacrifice bunt.
The Cobras responded with a run of their own. Courtney Boan led off being hit by a pitch. She then stole second (one of two in the game). Anna Gluhosky brought her in on a double to right center field.
With the game tied at 1, the international tiebreaker rule went into effect. With the runner placed on second, a sacrifice bunt and single scored to give Catawba the momentary lead.
Coker was then down to their last three outs. Alex Alverson was put on second when Maria Williamson drew a walk. The bases became loaded for pinchhitting Katelyn Chambers stepped into the box and reach on an error. Hannah Price tied the game with a single, scoring Alverson. Once again, the bases were full and Mindy North hit a sacrifice fly to the left fielder. Williamson beat out the throw to home for the walk-off.
Christine Carver (15-6, 1.87 ERA) threw the complete game, eight innings worth of action, giving up just one earned run, five hits, and one walk. With her three strikeouts in the game, Carver has reached 100 on the season.
Game Two
The lone run for Catawba was scored at the front end of the game on a RBI double down the left field line.
Coker retaliated in the bottom half of the inning. Williamson singled up the middle and Price followed it up with a home run to left center to give the Cobras the lead that they would not relent.
Two more runs were tacked on in the sixth for Coker. Price reached on an error by the shortstop and Rebekah Addison came in to pinch run. Hannah Goodman laid down a good sacrifice bunt to move Addison into scoring position at second. Lilli Otten singled up the middle, advancing to second on the throw, while Addison scored. Boan then pinch ran for Otten at second. Morgan Richardson drove Boan in on a single to left field to cap it off.
Taylor Forehand (8-4, 2.74) pitched lights out in game two, with the first seven outs of the game coming on strikeouts. She later added another one for good measure, giving up just one run on four hits with two walks. Forehand's eight strikeouts tie her career-high. Nikki Linthicum (7-2, 4.57) entered in the seventh to save the game for the Cobras, her second of the season.
The Navy and Gold will have one more roadtrip in the regular season on Saturday, April 21. They will head to Tennessee to face Lincoln Memorial in a SAC doubleheader scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
McDonald's Player of the Game- Maria Williamson