Rahach Leads CCU Softball to Upset Win Over South Carolina
CONWAY - Taylor Rahach pitched a complete game seven-hitter in leading Coastal Carolina's softball team to a 3-2 upset win over South Carolina.
It was a game played before a standing-room crowd only at the CCU Softball Stadium as both teams battled into the fourth inning before the Chanticleers broke through with all three of its runs.
CCU did not have a hit off USC starter and loser Jessica Elliott (9-8) until Timi Tooley led off the inning with a double giving CCU its first hit of the game. It did not take long for CCU to pick up its second hit as Kassidy Smith followed Tooley with a monster blast to center field to give CCU a 2-0 lead.
CCU added another run, which turned out to be a very important run, as Alexis Alvino worked a walk following Smith's home run. She worked her way around to third base following a single from Chelsea D'Avilar and scored on a shallow pop up foul out off the bat of Angela Buccilli to USC first basemen Krystan Snaer, who made a diving catch going away from the field. The ever-alert Alvino sprinted home with the third and final run for the Chanticleers.
USC immediately cut the lead to 3-1 in the top of the fifth when Snaer led off the inning with a solo blast to left field.
The score stayed that way until the seventh when the Gamecocks led off the inning with a walk to Snaer and Mackenzie Bossel followed with a single to put two runners on base with no outs.
From there Rahach picked up an out on a sacrifice to move the runners up a base and a ground out from Alyssa VanDerveer scored the second run. With two outs and the tying run on third, Rachach was able to get a fly ball from Victoria Williams to end the game.
CCU only had five hits during the game with Payton Hanson joining Tooley, Smith, Alvino and D'Avilar with hits.
Rahach finished the game allowing seven hits and striking out six in running her record to 12-3 on the season.
CCU moves to 28-13 on the season and the win over the Gamecocks was just the ninth win in the history for CCU in 60 games. It was the first win over USC since the 2012 season.
The Chants will be back in action at home for a three-game Sun Belt Conference tilt against Georgia State. The games will include a Friday April 14 double-header which is set to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday's single game will also start at 1 p.m.
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LAFAYETTE – A grand slam by DJ Sanders in the first inning opened the scoring and 17th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball went on to post a 13-5 (5 inn.) win over Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday at Lamson Park.
Sanders' slam was part of a six-run first inning that built an early cushion, then Haley Hayden doubled and Daniella Chavez singled driving home two runs apiece in a seven-run third inning that put the game out of reach.
Louisiana (30-5) extended its season-high winning streak to 13 games.
The Ragin' Cajuns return to action on Good Friday (April 14) in San Marcos, Texas, opening a three-game Sun Belt series with Texas State in a 5 p.m. doubleheader at Bobcat Stadium.
Sanders collected her 20th home run of the season, extending her career-high figure and nation-leading total. Her season RBI total increased to 50 on the grand slam, marking the second straight season she reaches the mark (led team with 58 RBI in 2016).
Hayden scored two runs to increase her career total to 228 which places her within two runs of tying Jerie Alexander for second place on the career runs scored list. She was 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI, giving her a multiple-hit game for the second straight outing (3 hits on Sunday vs. Troy).
Chavez picked up two more RBI, giving her 12 RBI over the last seven games (dates back to the Georgia Southern series). The junior transfer from Kansas picked up her team-leading 13th multiple-RBI game of the season and increased her career total to 46.
Freshman pitcher Alyssa Denham tossed three innings in the circle and yielded only one run (unearned) and one hit. With the win she improved to 12-1 and remained unbeaten in her last 13 starts.
After Denham worked around a one-out single in the top of the first, the Cajuns offense went to work. Kara Gremillion walked, Hayden singled up the middle and Aleah Craighton was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Sanders worked the count full, fouled off a pitch and then launched the grand slam for a 4-0 lead.
Chavez singled and Comeaux doubled to keep the pressure on the Lions (19-20). The Cajuns tacked on two more runs on a throwing error after a bunt was laid down by Kassidy Zeringue and SLU went around the horn in an attempt to pick runners off the base path.
The Lions plated an unearned run in the second inning, after Sanders committed a pair of two-out errors, cutting the deficit to 6-1.
Ali McCoy, who was able to get the visitors out of the first inning, was able to slow the Ragin Cajuns down in the second inning. However, a leadoff single by Lexie Comeaux, her second hit of the night, followed by a Corin Voinchè walk and Zeringue bunt single loaded the bases with no outs.
A run scored on the next at bat as a Kelli Martinez grounder was misplayed, then Gremillion lifted a sacrifice fly into right field and Hayden delivered the first of two big blows with a double that cleared the bases and extended the lead to 10-1.
Chavez's two run single came off of reliever Alley McDonald and Comeaux brought home the hosts final run with a sacrifice fly that made it 13-1.
Southeastern picked up three runs off four hits in the top of the fifth inning – slicing the lead to 13-5 – in an attempt to rally and extend the game. With the bases loaded, Summer Ellyson induced a fly ball out from Alli Daigle to hold the run-rule margin in place.
The Ragin' Cajuns and Lions met for the first time since February 2004. Louisiana extended its series win streak to 30 games and upped the all-time series lead over Southeastern Louisiana to 46-1.
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Softball Finishes Off Southern in Five Innings
MONROE, La. - The ULM softball team took home a 12-2 victory over Southern in five innings on a rainy Tuesday evening at Geo-Surfaces Field. The Warhawks are back at home Wednesday night when they welcome Louisiana Tech to town at 6:00 p.m.
TURNING POINT
-Southern plated two runs in the top of the second inning, only to be matched by the Warhawks in the bottom of the inning as ULM rolled off 12 unanswered runs to end the night.
NOTABLES
-Samantha Agamaite went for a perfect 2-for-2 in the game with three RBI, while Jessie Watts added two hits and an RBI of her own.
-Six of ULM's starting nine contributed to the teams' eight hits. Sydney McKay, Jayden Mount, Hunter Hogan and Megan Shaw each had one hit apiece in the contest to go along with the multi-hit contests from Agamaite and Watts.
-Rachael Murphy stepped into the circle for her fourth start of the season and earned third win after allowing only two runs on four hits while striking out seven in the five inning contest.
-Southern got on the board first with a two-run single in the top of the second inning by Scarlett Brock before the Warhawks knotted the game in the bottom of the frame on a base hit from Agamaite.
-ULM went on to add five runs in the third, highlighted by a two-run single from Agamaite and a RBI single from Watts, betore tallying five final runs in the fourth, keyed by a pair of RBI singles, from McKay and Shaw.
UP NEXT
-The Warhawks return to Geo-Sufaces Field on Wednesday night to take on in-state rival Louisiana Tech. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
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PANTHERS TAKE LATE LEAD, BUT FALL AT KENNESAW
KENNESAW, Ga. - Georgia State (26-14) took a two-run lead into the seventh inning Tuesday night, but Kennesaw State rallied with three runs in the seventh to win 6-5 and end GSU’s seven-game win streak in the series.
In similar fashion to the first meeting between the two teams this season, Kennesaw State jumped in front in the bottom of the first Tuesday with three runs on five hits.
Georgia State battled back in the top of the third with five straight Panthers reaching base safely before the first out. Morgan Brown led off the inning with a single and Reagan Morgan followed with a single of her own. Ivie Drake then doubled to bring home Brown and put runners on second and third with no outs. Kensey Caldwell grounded to the shortstop as Morgan scored from third, but the shortstop bobbled the ball allowing Caldwell to reach. After a fielder’s choice for the first out, KSU used a line drive to double-up a GSU runner and end the threat, but not before GSU made it a 3-2 game.
With two outs in the top of the fourth, Georgia State rattled off three straight singles capped by Drake’s RBI hit that scored Brown to tie the ballgame at 3-3.
The Panthers kept the momentum in their favor with the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth as Morgan scored Baylee Sexton with a fielder’s choice. Megan Litumbe then added some insurance with a solo home run in the seventh, her 10th long ball of the season, to put GSU up 5-3.
Kennesaw State mounted its own comeback in the seventh, scoring two runs to tie the game before winning on a walk-off sac fly.
Georgia State tallied 15 hits Tuesday. It was the second time in three games the Panthers recorded double-digit hit totals. Both Brown and Drake went 3-for-4 on the day.
Georgia State has another non-conference midweek contest Wednesday night at No. 7 Auburn. The Panthers and Tigers will start at 7 p.m. ET. Audio from that game is available for free on GeorgiaStateSports.com and on the GSU Athletics mobile app. The game is also available on SEC Network+ and can be found on WatchESPN/ESPN3 with an SEC Network subscription.
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