CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Charleston Southern Buccaneers won in a walk-off Wednesday at CSU Softball Complex as Lilly Bishop scored the game-winning run on a groundout to give the Bucs a 4-3 win over the North Carolina A&T Aggies in Big South Conference softball play.
The Aggies (13-32, 3-18 Big South) and the Bucs (23-26, 9-13) had to wait for the climactic moment because, during the middle of the seventh inning, lightning in the area delayed the game two hours.
When the game resumed, one-out singles by Ashlyn Cribb, Erika Cooper and Bishop loaded the bases for Raleigh Lewis as she prepared to face Aggies freshman reliever, Mariah Headen. Lewis hit a groundball to second that pushed across Bishop's game-winning run.
It was an unfortunate ending for the Aggies, considering they held a 2-0 lead after four innings and a 3-2 lead after 5 ½-innings played. The Aggies grabbed a 1-0 lead after the first half-inning as graduate Jazzmaine Hammond led off the game with a triple to center field.
Headen followed with a single to drive home Hammond. A&T's 2-0 lead came about in the fourth when freshman Jailyn Tineo singled with two outs and came around to score on an Icess Tresvik single.
The Aggies scored another run in the fourth inning after Jailyn Tineo singled and Icess Tresvik scored from first base for a 2-0 lead.
Junior A&T starting pitcher Kayla Douglas kept the Bucs off the board over four at-bats, but the Bucs finally broke through in the fifth with a Gracie Prince two-run home run to left center to tie the game at 2.
A&T recaptured the lead in the sixth after Headen reached on an error by the pitcher. Pitcher Baylee Eaton's bad throw allowed Headen to race around the bases to score for the 3-2 advantage.
However, the Bucs rallied again. In the sixth, with runners on second and third, Madison Koger scored Anna Junge from third on an RBI sacrifice fly to right off freshman reliever Joey Barkhimer to tie the game at 3. SeaEnna Satcher moved to third with two outs.
Barkhimer did walk Prince but got out of the jam when Weslin Jones popped out. Then, in the seventh inning, A&T stranded a runner on second base to keep the game tied.
Tresvik went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Headen went 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Douglas pitched 5.1 innings giving up three runs on five hits. Headen (2-6) picked up the loss giving up one run on three hits in 1.1 innings.
The lightning caused the cancelation of Game 2.
