HARTSVILLE, S.C.- The No. 2 seed Queens University of Charlotte softball team has advanced to the 2009 Conference Carolinas Tournament Championship game! The Royals defeated Coker College in the first game of the day and upset No. 2-seed Mount Olive College in the semi-final game later in the afternoon.
In the Royals last championship game appearance, in 2006, Queens took the title and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
The championship game is set for Sunday at 1:30pm. The Royals will not know their opponent until shortly before as there is still a quarterfinal and semifinal game to play. Games are taking place at 9:30am and 11:30am. There is a chance Queens can face Mount Olive in the championship if they are to win the semifinal game against the winner of the quarterfinal contest featuring Saint Andrews and Coker.
Game 1
-Recap courtesy of Christian Stryker, Coker SID
#4 Queens- 1
#8 Coker- 0
Chantel Dodge (Shalimar, Fla., Choctawatchee) did it all as she led the #4 seed Queens University to 1-0 win over #8 seed Coker College. Dodge had the game winning RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, while also holding the Lady Cobras to just one hit as the winning pitcher.
Dodge threw a complete game shutout with eight strikeouts in the win, while her counterpart, Shelly Catlett, took the loss, allowing just one run on five hits with six strikeouts.
Audra Littlejohn (Riverside, Calif., Centennial ) had two hits, for the Royals, with Amanda Bowman (Kernersville, N.C,, Glenn), Kari Kmetic (Milwaukie, Ore., Putnam) and Dodge each getting a hit. Coker's lone hit came off the bat of Shannon Mitchell.
Queens advances to play the winner of game 14 Mount Olive at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, while Coker will play the winner of game 12 (Lees-McRae/Belmont Abbey) in an elimination game at 4:30.
Game 2
#4 Queens- 5
#2 Mount Olive- 0
Two two-run homers by the Queens in the first inning gave the Royals a 4-0 jump on the higher-seeded Mount Olive College Trojans in the semifinal game of the Conference Carolinas tournament. Kmetic connected to put the first homer over the left field wall, clearing leadoff batter Guirintano from the bases and putting the Royals up 2-0. With one runner on, Alisha Waldrop (McDonough, GA , Luella ) put one over the fence doubling the Royals lead.
Dodge had her second outstanding performance of the day, sitting down 14 with strike outs and only giving up two hits. The Trojans had one hit in the third inning and one in the sixth.
Queens tacked one more run on the board in the seventh when Kmetic went the other way, putting a bomb over the right field fence. The home runs are the sixth and seventh for Kmetic this season and the first time she has hit two on the same day.
The Royals had eight hits on the day with Guirintano and Kmetic each going 2-4.
