Sharks take bite out of RedStorm
Rio Grande Sports Information
HARDEEVILLE, S.C. - Kristy Cook tossed a two-hit shutout and Mariaha Sanborn clubbed a two-out, three-run home run in the first inning to give South Carolina-Beaufort an early lead and fuel an eventual 8-0 win over the University of Rio Grande in the winner's bracket final of the NAIA National Softball Championship Opening Round's USC-Beaufort Bracket at the Richard Gray Sports Complex.
The host Sand Sharks, who are ranked 16th nationally and seeded second in the bracket, improved to 42-12 and advanced to Wednesday afternoon title game.
The RedStorm, the No. 4 seed in the bracket, slipped to 32-15 and dropped into the loser's bracket final against either No. 1 seed Campbellsville or No. 3 seed Indiana Wesleyan, Tuesday, at 5 p.m.
Rio Grande was shutout for just the second time this season and the first time since a 4-0 loss to Asbury University in the home opener on March 12.
Cook, who was The Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year, retired the final 13 batters she faced and allowed just three baserunners altogether - singles to senior Jessi Robinson (Wilmington, OH) in the first and third innings and a third inning walk to freshman Gabby Gregg (Ashville, OH).
Cook finished with eight strikeouts en route to her 26th win in 30 outings.
The Sand Sharks got all of the runs it would need against Rio sophomore starter Jenna Jones (Lancaster, OH) in the first when Maddie Byrd reached on a two-out single, moved to second when Taylor Triplett was hit by a pitch and Sanborn followed with a three-run home run to left-center.
That's how things stayed until the fifth when USCB's Shelby Zipperer was hit by a pitch, moved to third on a pair of groundouts and scored on a passed ball while Sanborn was drawing a walk.
The Sand Sharks finished off the win by adding three more runs in the sixth inning and another marker in the seventh.
Zipperer and Byrd were both hit by pitches with the bases loaded and an RBI fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Triplett accounted for the sixth inning runs, while a throwing error plated the game's final run.
Sanborn and Marissa Becker added two hits each in the winning effort.
Jones slipped to 15-7 on the season, allowing seven hits and seven runs - four earned - with two walks and four hit batsmen over 5-1/3 innings. She struck out three.
Live video and play-by-play of Rio's 5 p.m. game will be available at www.team1sports.com/redstorm.