VIERA, Fla. — In a game that was tied heading into the eighth inning, the College of Coastal Georgia softball team unleashed a seven-run rally under international tiebreaker rules to defeat St. Mary-of-the-Woods 8-2 on Monday night, improving to 17-3 on the season. It was another example of the Mariners' ability to dig deep and produce when it matters most.
Emilia Clemons was the backbone of the victory, working all eight innings and allowing just one earned run on five hits while striking out five. She navigated traffic throughout the game and kept St. Mary-of-the-Woods from building any momentum, issuing three walks but consistently making big pitches when runners were in scoring position. The sophomore improved to 5-1 on the season with the complete-game effort and continues to establish herself as one of the most dependable arms in the Mariner rotation.
The game was tighter than the final score suggested for most of the night. CCGA took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Rily Andrews sacrifice fly that scored Kaitlyn Carolino, but St. Mary-of-the-Woods answered immediately in the bottom of the inning when a wild pitch allowed Kylie Cooksey to score from third, knotting the game at one. From there, both pitching staffs settled in and the game remained deadlocked through seven innings, with the Mariners leaving multiple runners stranded and the opposition keeping CCGA's lineup from stringing hits together at the right moments. The most frustrating sequence came in the sixth, when Mackenzie Southerland and Brooke Perdue hit back-to-back doubles to put runners at the corners with no outs, only for the Mariners to strand both runners without scoring.
The eighth inning changed everything. With Rily Andrews placed on second to start the frame under tiebreaker rules, Southerland laid down a bunt that was misplayed for an error, advancing Andrews to third. Southerland then stole second, and Perdue followed with an RBI single to break the tie. From there the floodgates opened. Raeghan Harvey delivered a clutch pinch-hit RBI single, Julianna Batts added another run-scoring hit, and Carolino capped the rally with a two-run double that put the game well out of reach. By the time the inning was over, seven runs had crossed the plate on five hits and two St. Mary-of-the-Woods errors.
Carolino was the offensive standout of the game, finishing 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored, while Perdue went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Andrews contributed a sacrifice fly and an RBI single in the eighth, and Batts and Harvey each delivered timely hits off the bench when the Mariners needed them most. Mills was solid at the plate as well, finishing 2-for-3 with a double before being lifted for a pinch runner.
The victory keeps the Mariners rolling at 17-3 and demonstrates once again that this team has the resilience and depth to win games in a variety of ways, even when the offense takes a while to get going.
