Charleston Southern University’s softball team began its 2026 season at home on Friday, hosting the CSU Kickoff Tournament. The Buccaneers faced Siena and St. John’s in a doubleheader, dropping both games.
In the first game against Siena, Riley Lauffer started as pitcher for Charleston Southern, allowing three runs in the opening inning before holding Siena scoreless over the next two innings. On offense, Carsten Sandvig hit a double in the first inning that drove in two runs, followed by an RBI double from Charlee Yourman to tie the game at three. Lorenzza Marcacci added an RBI single to give Charleston Southern a 4-3 lead. In the third inning, Yourman hit her first home run of the season, bringing Marcacci home and extending their lead to 6-3.
Siena responded with six runs over the final two innings to secure a 9-6 win. Maddie Lee made her return to play after missing most of last season due to injury and hit a triple in her first appearance back. Jordyn Dimond, Charlee Yourman, and Carsten Sandvig each had two hits for Charleston Southern. Gianna Deluco pitched 2.1 innings in her debut for the Buccaneers, giving up one hit; Brenna Conley finished out the game.
In their second matchup of the day against St. John’s, Charleston Southern fell behind early as St. John’s scored twice in the first inning and once more in the second before adding three more runs in the fifth inning for a final score of 6-0. Although held scoreless themselves, Charleston Southern managed four hits during the game with Charlee Yourman recording her second double of the season and Blakely Kingsmore leading with two hits.
Camryn Martin made her first start at first base for Charleston Southern and recorded six putouts during the nightcap. Kinsey Clopton pitched a complete game for Charleston Southern with seven strikeouts while allowing six runs.
Charleston Southern will continue tournament play on Saturday afternoon at CSU Softball Field with games scheduled against George Mason and Marist at 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.
