CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston Southern softball team opened the 2025 season on Friday, as they took on the Bellarmine Knights and the Siena Saints in the CSU Kickoff Tournament at CSU Softball Field.
The Buccaneers (0-2) were unable to come out victorious in either game, as they fell to Bellarmine (1-1) by a 4-3 score in the afternoon slate and were shut out by Siena (2-0) in the night cap.
Game One
With a 3-2 deficit in the final inning, Bellarmine was down to its last strike with two outs, when
Kinsey Clopton allowed a go-ahead two-run home run to make it a 4-3 game. The Buccaneers were ahead 3-1 going into the top of the seventh inning.
Bellarmine was able to scratch a run across in the top of the first inning, as
Riley Lauffer allowed a walk to the first batter of the game, who stole second base and came around to score on an RBI single. After that, Lauffer struck out the final three batters of the inning and two more batters in the second inning.
The Buccaneers tied the game in the bottom of the third inning. After Blakely Kingsmore reached on a throwing error by the shortstop, she stole third base and came around to score on a groundout by
Weslin Jones.
Charleston Southern went on to score one run in both the fourth and fifth inning, as Lorenzza Maracacci singled to lead things off and came around to score on a
Jordyn Dimond RBI single. Kingsmore also came around to score in the bottom of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly from
Carsten Sandvig.
As the opening-game starter for the Buccaneers, Lauffer allowed one run on three hits with five walks and six strikeouts. She did not factor in the decision. Clopton's record fell to 0-1 on the season, as she allowed three runs (one earned) on one hit, which was the home run.
Game Two
Mackenzie Rutkoff started for the Buccaneers and kept them in a scoreless game through 5.1 innings, until Siena hit home runs in back-to-back at bats to take a 2-0 lead.
The Buccaneers did not pick up their first hit of the game until the fifth inning, when
Linley Jones singled into center field.
Brenna Conley made her collegiate debut for Charleston Southern, allowing one unearned run in the final 1.2 innings of the game.
Charleston Southern made three errors in the second game, including two in the final inning. Rutkoff's record falls to 0-1 on the season after allowing two earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched. She had one strikeout and did not walk a batter in her Buccaneer debut.
On Deck
The Buccaneers are back at it tomorrow with two more games, as they will face off against Georgetown fir the first time this weekend at 3:00 PM. Then, they have a rematch with the Saints in the night cap. Live stats will be available for the remainder of the tournament.
