COBRAS FALL IN TWO CLOSE CONTESTS AGAINST BELMONT ABBEY

Hartsville, SC - After threatening in both games, the Cobras lost a tough battle to the Crusaders, dropping two neck-and-neck contests at home.

By The Numbers:

Final Score: Belmont Abbey 3, Coker 1 (Game 1) | Belmont Abbey 6, Coker 5 (Game 2)
Records: Coker 7-11 (0-0 SAC), Belmont Abbey 12-4 (0-0 Conference Carolinas)
Location: Hartsville, SC | Saleeby-Stokes Field

Top Performers

Ariana Fair: 2 hits in 3 at-bats (Game 1)
Madie Andrews: 7 strikeouts, 4 innings with no hits allowed (Game 1)
Dakota Slack: 2 hits in 2 at-bats, 1 run, 1 RBI, 2 walks

How It Happened:

Game 1: It was a defensive battle to start, with no runs scored in the first four innings of play by either side. Belmont Abbey got the scoring going with two runs in the top of the fifth, at which time Andrews had yet to allow a hit. She also had five strikeouts in six batters in the first two innings, further highlighting her stellar outing that isn't quite shown in the final numbers. She allowed another run in the top of the sixth, and, after some back-and-forth, it was the Cobras down 3-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh. That inning started well for Coker, with two back-to-back singles by Delaney Eaves and Cheyenne Palmer putting Emma Rushing and Arianna Roudabush on base as pinch runners. Payton Brigman brought home Rushing on a groundout to score for the Cobras, but that was the only run brought in as the late-game heroics fell just short, and Coker fell 3-1.

Game 2: The second game started out much like the first, as there were no runs scored by either side in the first two innings. In the top of the third, a Crusader solo shot gave them a 1-0 lead, but the Cobras had an answer. In the bottom of that same inning, Fair scored on an unearned run to tie it, followed by Slack walking with bases loaded to score Bailee Gaskins, all of which put the Cobras up 2-1 heading to the top of the fourth. Belmont Abbey had an answer of their own, scoring three runs in the very next inning to take a 4-2 lead over the Cobras. After two defensive half-innings, the Cobras put up a huge bottom of the fifth with Eaves hitting an RBI single to score Palmer, Ally Moore hitting an RBI single to score Slack, and then Lacey Hennessy hitting the third RBI single in the inning to score Eaves and take back the lead at 5-4. Unfortunately, Belmont Abbey scored two runs in the top of the sixth that weren't answered by Coker and they walked away with a 6-5 win.

Notables

• Two Cobras are hitting above .400: Slack (.471) and Fair (.400)
• Andrews is just under .400 at .396 while alsp having a team-leading 3.60 ERA in the circle

Up Next

The Cobras will head to Tusculum on Tuesday to open conference play! First pitch in Game 1 of that series is set for 12:00 PM ET.