HUNTINGTON — Nicolette Picone’s Easter eggs were of the goose variety for almost all of Coastal Carolina’s victory over Marshall on Saturday afternoon in college softball.
The Chanticleers pitcher hurled a shutout for 6 1/3 innings before Ramey George launched a three-run home run to left field to set the score in a 5-3 Coastal Carolina triumph at Dot Hicks Field.
“It was some kind of crazy drop ball and I got really under it,†said George, a former Huntington St. Joe student pinch-hitting in the seventh inning.
Geroge had to wait after Chanticleers’ catcher Maddy Jennings was treated for an injury suffered while diving for a foul pop.
“I was like, let’s get it going here,†George said with a laugh of what she thought after Jennings was deemed well enough to stay in the game.
Picone stymied the Thundering Herd (24-21, 10-8 Sun Belt Conference) until the seventh, allowing three hits and walking two.
She improved to 22-6 and won for the second time in the three-game series.
Marshall hurt itself with shoddy defense, committing three errors that led to two unearned runs.
“There’s a lot of good things from it,†MU coach Morgan Zerkle said. “Our pitchers did well. Our team always shows fight through the end of the game. We just need to limit the errors and a couple of walks. We had a chance to tie it up right there.â€
Many in the announced crowd of 734 rose to their feet when with one on and two out Rielly Lucas hit a long fly ball to right. Sydney Montoya, though, caught it just short of the warning track to end the game.
“We can take those good things into the rest of the season and the conference tournament, but know they have to clean it up, too,†Zerkle said.
Coastal Carolina (35-13, 11-7) scored on an error in the first to take a 1-0 lead. Another miscue led to two runs in the third inning. The Chanticleers added a run each in the fourth and the sixth.
McKennah Metzger went 3 for 4 for Coastal Carolina. Kierstin Roose drove in two runs.
Paige Simpson was 2 for 3 for the Herd. Bub Feringa (6-8) took the loss.
Marshall returns to action at 3 p.m. Tuesday at home in a doubleheader with Radford (25-21). The Highlanders feature former Wahama catcher Amber Wolfe and ex-Man pitcher Morgan Cooper.
COASTAL CAROLINA 102 101 0 — 5 7 0
MARSHALL 000 000 3 — 3 5 3
Picone and Jennings; Feringa, Maynard (4) and Darnley.
