Leverett Leads CSU Softball to Sweep of Albany State
Columbus, Ga. -- Columbus State shortstop Brittany Leverett homered in the first game of a double header with Albany State, and then added two more for good measure in the nightcap as the Cougars swept the Golden Rams 10-5 and 9-1 on Monday evening.
Leverett's first homer was one of two key hits in an eight-run fourth inning in game one that brought CSU back from a 4-1 deficit. Christie Thompson drilled a double to left center to drive in two runs a batter before Leverett drilled a shot through the wind to left field to account for two more runs. In all, CSU collected seven hits in the inning and took a 9-4 lead.
Freshman Courtney Darr was the beneficiary of the offensive outburst. Entering the game in the fourth, she got out of a jam with only two inherited runners scoring and went on to finish the game with four innings of three-hit work. She walked two and fanned three, allowing only a seventh-inning run to pick up her first collegiate win
Rocky Hemmer and Morgan Staffins had three hits each in the contest, while Keeley Kennedy and Thompson added two each. CSU had 12 hits as a team.
In the nightcap, CSU scored seven runs over the first three innings to take command. Leverett hit the first of two two-run homers in the first inning as CSU scored four in the frame. Carrie Jones squeezed in a run and Morgan Staffins singled in another in the inning.
Leverett then provided an encore in the second inning, hammering another two-run shot to center field to make it 6-0 at that point. CSU would add a run in the third on a double steal to make it 7-0
Albany State's Deanna Birdsong clubbed a solo homer in the fourth to account for the Rams' only run.
Melanie Trevathan ended the game in the bottom of the fifth with her first collegiate homerun. The freshman from Northside High in Columbus turned on a Melissa Hurt pitch and drove it out to left for a two-run shot that enacted the eight-run rule and gave CSU the 9-1 win.
Staffins led the nine-hit CSU offensive attack with three hits, while Leverett had the two homers. Kori Waugh earned the win with three strong innings, allowing two hits with three strikeouts. Jennifer Isasi pitched the final two innings and allowed three hits and one run with three strikeouts.
CSU (11-16-1) travels to UNC Pembroke on Thursday for a makeup doubleheader in Peach Belt Conference play, then returns home on Saturday to host Flagler at 1 p.m. in another PBC twinbill.
