Charleston Southern University’s softball team continued play in the Cici’s Pizza Lowcountry Classic on Saturday, facing the UMass Minutemen and the Penn Quakers. The Buccaneers lost both games, falling 8-5 to UMass and 5-1 to Penn.
In the first game against UMass, Charleston Southern struggled offensively early, remaining hitless through four innings as UMass built a 3-0 lead. Charlee Yourman broke up the no-hitter with a double in the fifth inning. The Buccaneers mounted a comeback in the sixth inning. Emily Chandler led off with a single, followed by hits from Maddie Lee and Blakely Kingsmore to load the bases. Jordyn Dimond then hit a double that cleared the bases and tied the game at 3-3. Carsten Sandvig added another double to give Charleston Southern its first lead of the day, and Lorenzza Marcacci’s sacrifice fly extended it to 5-3.
However, UMass responded in the seventh inning with a two-run home run to tie the game and added more runs to secure an 8-5 win. Riley Lauffer started for Charleston Southern, pitching over six innings with six strikeouts before being relieved by Brenna Conley in the final inning.
In their second game of the day against Penn, Brenna Conley started as pitcher for three innings before Gianna Deluco and Kinsey Clopton took over on the mound. Deluco allowed one run with two strikeouts across two innings, while Clopton also allowed one run in her two innings of work.
Carsten Sandvig reached scoring position in the first but was left stranded. In the fifth inning, Emily Chandler hit her second home run of the season for Charleston Southern’s only run against Penn. Cadence Walding recorded her first hit of the season later in that inning, but an attempt to advance resulted in an out that ended their scoring opportunity.
Charleston Southern will conclude its participation in the tournament on Sunday when they face Akron at 11:00 AM.
