HARTSVILLE, S.C. - Brevard earned the rarest of walk-off victories on Sunday afternoon, celebrating a game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh inning on their opponent's home field to close the season on a high note.
The Tornados (10-26, 3-19 SAC), playing as the home team in a visiting stadium for the second straight day after weather-induced schedule shifts, trailed Coker (24-25, 10-12 SAC) 5-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Eight pitches later, the Tornados had a walk-off victory to end their season on a winning note.
Lauren Parker ripped a single on a 2-0 offering from Tabitha Allen, who pitched a pair of complete games on the afternoon. Kinny Davis's bunt single one pitch later put two runners on, and a Kinsey Parrish flyout to right field gave Dallas Heaton an opportunity with runners on the corners.
Heaton took a first-pitch strike, then laced a single to left field to score Parker and tie the game at five runs each. On the very next pitch, Casey Whitaker hit a single to center field, allowing Davis to come around from second and score the winning run to give Brevard a dramatic 6-5 victory.
The Tornados scored single runs in the first and second innings on RBI singles by Heaton and Brittan Miller, then added a pair in the fourth. Miller began a two-out rally with a walk before scoring on consecutive singles by Parker and Davis. An RBI single made the score 4-0 before the Cobras struck for four runs on four hits in the top of the fifth to even the score. Cobras' center fielder Katelyn Szupello gave Coker the lead in the sixth inning with a rare steal of home to set up Brevard's dramatic comeback.
Heaton had an impressive performance in her last collegiate game, notching three hits for the second time this season while tallying a pair of RBIs. She also threw five innings in the circle, giving up four runs on seven hits and tallying a strikeout.
Senior Casey Whitaker had multi-hit games in both contests, going 4-for-7 on the day with the game-winning RBI in the second game. Kelsee Grant rounded out her Brevard career by making starts in both games at the designated player position.
The Cobras clinched the eighth and final seed to this week's South Atlantic Conference Softball Championship with a victory in the first game of the day, using a three-run first-inning outburst to coast to a 6-1 victory. Coker will host the tournament at Saleeby-Stokes Field beginning on Thursday morning.
