CONWAY, S.C. — A pitcher's duel was on the docket during a sunny and mid-70s afternoon in South Carolina, and seven innings was not enough to determine a winner. It proved to be a heartbreak loss for the South Dakota softball team (14-7, 0-0 Summit League), falling 1-0 to Coastal Carolina (19-4, 0-0 Sun Belt) Saturday afternoon.
The defense was on display early from St. John Stadium
Alyssa Thorson with a grab in right field that would turn into a 9-4-3 double play to keep Coastal off the board in the opening frame.
Autumn Iversen recorded the first Coyote hit of the day in the second inning.
Brooke Carey would follow that up with a double to put two Yotes in scoring position, followed by an
Abi Brown walk to load the bases. However, Coastal Carolina would work out of the jam to keep the game scoreless.
Tatum Villotta led off the third inning with a single to left field. After putting a pair of runners aboard for the second time on the day, that elusive key hit to get a runner home still evaded the USD bats.
Back-to-back singles for the Chanticleers in the fourth inning proved to be their first threat of scoring on the afternoon. The Chants would put runners at second and third with two away, but
Clara Edwards would work out of it with a ground out to third to end the frame.
The fourth inning saw a web gem of a grab from Iversen, who was patrolling the right center field gap, and took away a would-be extra base hit with a runner on-base to ensure the Chants stayed off the scoreboard.
Another Chanticleer threat came in the home half of the fifth inning when back-to-back hits with two away put Chants at the corners. But yet again, Edwards worked out of the jam with a fly ball to center as the game moved to the sixth inning still scoreless.
Edwards would try and spark something offensively for herself in the circle, leading off the sixth inning with a single to left field. Eventually moving the pinch runner over to second, the clutch hit still evaded the Coyotes.
Coastal Carolina would be the first to make the call to the bullpen in the pitcher's duel, calling on the arm of ace Nicolette Picone who started Game 1 for the Chants. She'd give up a single, but a double play would get her out of the inning.
The Chanticleers would finally push across a run in the home half of the eighth inning to take the second game of the series, 1-0.
For the Chanticleers, Abby Henderson was dominant in the circle allowing no Coyote runs on just five hits in 6.1 innings pitched. Picone came in and picked up the win for the Chants in the circle.
Edwards (7-4) got the start in the circle in Game 2, having a stellar outing. She allowed just the one run and scattered 10 hits, while striking out seven Chanticleers.
UP NEXT: The series finale is set for tomorrow from Conway with first pitch slated for 11 a.m. (CT).
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