DELAND, Fla. (May 8, 2008) - Sophomore Katy Jett (Talbott, Tenn.) drove in all three RBIs for ETSU on Thursday night, but it was still not enough to down Campbell as the Camels went on to win the final game of day one at the Atlantic Sun Tournament, 6-3, from Patricia Wilson Field.
In a game where the Lady Bucs tied the single-season stolen base record with their 93rd theft of the year, ETSU still saw its record fall to 29-32. Campbell improved its mark to 39-23 and has won two of the three meetings against the Softball Bucs this season.
Campbell struck early as they plated two runs on two hits in the top half of the first. Courtney Quinn worked a leadoff walk and came around to score on Amanda Littlejohn's one-out triple to the gap in right-center. Sophomore Marissa Hardy (Rocklin, Calif.) looked to have limited the Camels to the lone run, until Karlie Love's two-out blooper popped out of second baseman Briana Knight's (Brier, Wash.) glove as she laid out and tried to make an outstanding dive on the play. Hardy worked out of the inning by forcing Amanda Miller to line out to right.
ETSU left McCoy stranded at second in the bottom of the first after she extended her hitting streak to a season-high 10 straight games with an infield hit to third, and her 21st stolen base of the season tied the Lady Buccaneer single-season record. Unfortunately, Brittany Stanley settled in and fanned both Trisha Massenzo (Russellville, Tenn.) and Jessie Hackworth (Clinton, Tenn.) to end the frame.
Campbell had a chance to make a bigger dent in the top of third when they had runners on second and third and one out. Fortunately, Hardy induced Shayla Cullum to fly out to Cheniece Cason (Moreno Valley, Calif.) at short and got Karlie Love to ground out to second - which ended the inning.
The Camels added to their lead by taking full advantage of a Lady Buccaneer fielding miscue in the fourth. With one out and a runner on first, Ashley Jones hit a routine grounder to short and Cason flipped it to Knight at second, but the ball hit her glove and kept runners on first and second. Then, Campbell made ETSU pay on the very next at-bat when Robin Leathers' RBI single scored Michael, giving CU a 3-0 advantage.
After ETSU ran itself out of the fourth, Campbell tacked on three runs the following inning to take a 6-0 lead. Littlejohn led off the frame with home run over the fence in right-center, and Hardy's night ended when she walked the next Camel batter. Sophomore right-hander Darci Gilbert (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) entered in relief, but allowed one of Hardy's runners to score as well as one of her own. Cullum scored the second run of the inning on Keelie Michael's RBI grounder to second and pinch runner Katie Woodcock came around to touch the plate on a passed ball by Massenzo.
The Softball Bucs finally solved Stanley in the fifth as they scored three runs on two hits to cut the deficit in half, 6-3. Junior outfielder Kate Powell (Johnson City) started the rally with a single to left and Knight walked - which put runners on first and second. From there, Cason reached on an error by Miller at short and Jett came through with a clutch hit. Her 10th double of the season scored all three Lady Buccaneer runners and kept their hopes alive after things looked bleak through the first four innings.
However, Stanley kept ETSU from scoring in the final two innings and guided the Camels to their second win of the day.
Hardy's record dropped to 18-14 on the year after being tagged for five runs (four earned) on six hits in 4.0 IP. Stanley won her second straight start of the day and moved her season record to 23-9. Gilbert was effective for ETSU in relief as she tossed three innings and allowed one unearned run, while striking out one and not issuing a walk.
ETSU returns to the field Saturday afternoon when they face Gardner-Webb in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Campbell will now await the winner of ETSU/GWU and will be played at 6 p.m.
Fans unable to make the trip to DeLand, can view all the action by visiting, http://asun.playonsports.tv/ or click the link above.
Stay tuned to www.ETSUBucs.com for more information regarding the conference tournament and all other Buccaneer athletic news.
