CHARLESTON, S.C. - Linzy Rother smoked her second homer of the year and drove in five runs to lead a balanced offensive attack as Charleston Southern swept College of Charleston in a doubleheader at Buccaneer Field on Wednesday afternoon.

Morgan Dowdy (15-10) went the distance to secure the win as the Bucs prevailed, 5-1, in the opener. CSU (27-19) fell behind 3-2 in the back end of the twin bill, but used a three-run sixth inning to come out on top, 6-3, and make Jen Giles (9-8) a winner in relief.

Take a look at what Charleston Southern Head Coach Shane Winkler had to say postgame by clicking here.

Game One
College of Charleston's (28-18) Stephanie Saylors (16-9) entered play holding the 24th best ERA in the nation, but the CSU offense was undaunted and jumped out to a 3-0 lead after Dowdy recorded a scoreless top of the first.

Kristin Kelleher and Stephanie Sbardella were hit by pitches, and Jana Matthews ripped a single to center to load the bases with two outs. CSU then pushed the contest's first run across when Melissa Adams reached on an error, scoring Kelleher from third.

Linzy Rother stepped into the batter's box next, and laced a two-run single to right field to up the Bucs' advantage to 3-0.

Although they would add two more runs in the sixth, the Bucs' first inning outburst was more than enough for Dowdy, who turned in 7.0 more sparkling innings while yielding only one run on four hits and a walk. The junior right-hander also managed to rack up seven strikeouts along the way.

The Cougars' only run was produced by a single swing of the bat in the fourth, as Mackenzie Maples led off the frame with a home run clear of the right field wall.

Saylors settled into a groove to keep CSU off the scoreboard from innings two through five, but could not keep their bats at bay in the sixth. Sbardella worked a one out walk, and Jasmine Conley pinch ran and scooted to third when Adams smacked a single to right-center. Saylors caught Rother looking for the second out, but Hayes Holdsworth came through with a clutch two-out, two-run RBI double by lining a double to the left-center field alleyway.

Dowdy made quick work of the Cougars in the seventh, retiring the side in order to nail down the 5-1 victory.

Game Two
Charleston used the long ball to take a 2-0 lead against CSU starter Spencer Adkinson in the finale. Lizzy Vaughn stroked a homer to right field in the first, before Kelsey Hodgson launched a no-doubter to center field to start the second.

Adkinson was lifted in favor of Rother after the Vaughn homer, and Rother provided the Bucs with 3.0 solid innings of relief work to keep the game within reach in the middle innings.

CSU pulled even at 2 apiece in the last of the second as it pieced together three base knocks and took advantage of two CofC errors. Jana Matthews and Sbardella cracked back-to-back singles to start the inning, and Adams filled the sacks when she dropped down a sacrifice bunt and reached herself on an error.

Rother again did her part to trigger the Bucs offensively, lofting a sacrifice fly to right field to cut the Cougars' cushion to 2-1. Holdsworth then struck out for the second out of the frame, but Sbardella came down the line from third to score when Adams got in a run down between first and second, forcing a CofC error.

Charleston took a 3-2 lead in the third courtesy of a Amanda Lonergan RBI single, but CSU responded to knot the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Adams again keyed the Bucs out of the six hole, walking and eventually completing her trip around the bases when Hope Klicker (11-8) uncorked a wild pitch to the backstop.

The score would stay that way until the sixth, as Rother turned in 3.0 innings of one-run ball - striking out four - before turning it over to Giles. Giles was excellent out of the bullpen once more, as she struck out the side in her first inning of action in the fifth and notched four strikeouts while permitting just two hits over 3.0 shutout frames.

Rother put the finishing touches on the doubleheader sweep in the sixth, connecting for her second home run of the season to give the Bucs a 5-3 advantage. Adams had reached base in front of Rother by singling through the right side of the infield. Courtney Konyk helped manufacture an insurance run following the dinger, as the speedy outfielder beat out an infield single, stole second base, and crossed the plate on a fielding error with two down.

Next up for CSU is a three-game set at Gardner-Webb this weekend. The series gets underway with a doubleheader, beginning Saturday at 1 p.m.

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score