HARDEEVILLE – The USCB softball team held on for a one-run win in game one and rallied from a six-run deficit in game two to claim a doubleheader sweep over visiting Coastal Georgia on Tuesday.
Freshman Kayla Boyle homered among three hits and Ashlie Layman pitching a complete game in a 3-2 victory in the opener, and Boyle homered and drove in six runs while Naomi Catt pitching five innings of scoreless relief in an 11-7 comeback win in the finale.
The Sand Sharks did most of their damage early in game one, as Missy Hughes opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first, and Boyle added an RBI single in the second and a solo blast in the fourth.
The Mariners rallied in the seventh with a steady rain falling, making it a one-run game on Olivia Husted's run-scoring groundout and Katie Warren's RBI single before second baseman Marissa Becker snared Taylor Horne's line drive to end the game.
Hughes, Boyle and Haley Brown each had three hits and Whitley Martin added two for USCB. Layman (13-5) struck out five and walked five, allowing two runs and six hits.
Coastal Georgia broke out with a five-run first inning in game two, highlighted by Breanna Burgett's three-run homer, and made it 7-1 on Warren's two-run blast in the third. Catt (2-3) shut down the Mariners the rest of the way, though, allowing two hits and one walk over five scoreless frames to set the stage for USCB's comeback.
The Sand Sharks began the rally in the fourth, when Brown lifted a sacrifice fly to right-center and Boyle followed with a two-run shot to center – her third in three games – to make it 7-4.
Bailee Barker and Brown each plated runs with RBI singles in the fifth before Boyle smacked a two-run single to center to give USCB it's first lead of the game and Hughes added an RBI single for a 9-7 advantage. Boyle knocked in two more with a single to right in the sixth.
Boyle and Bailey Craven each had three hits, while Brown, Barker and Taylor Boyett added two apiece.
The Sand Sharks return to Sun Conference play this weekend, traveling to Ave Maria for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday and playing a doubleheader at Webber International at 1 p.m. Sunday.