Troutville, Va. — The Golden Eagles are the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament Champions for the first time in program history. Facing elimination, UC had to win both games against Davis & Elkins who entered the day without a loss. They won 6-0 in game one and 8-1 in game two to reach the 40 win plateau.
Brianna McCown (25-3) is the MEC Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP), as she secured four wins with 32 strikeouts in 38 innings pitched. Throughout the tournament she maintained a 0.92 earned run average (ERA). Other Golden Eagles names to the All-Tournament Team include catcher Isabella Andujar, second baseman Jeritza Montero and shortstop Hannah Rose.
Offensively, Andujar and Hannah Rose led Charleston. Throughout the tournament, Andujar went 9-for-22 with four home runs, three doubles, 13 runs-batted-in (RBIs), 9 runs scored and five walks, while Rose went 13-25 with two doubles, eight runs scored, two stolen bases, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Today, Andujar also established a new home run record, as she blasted her sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth home runs of the season to break the previous record (16) set in 2019.
Game One: 6 UC, 0 D&E
McCown had another dominating pitching performance with six strikeouts and only two hits allowed in seven innings pitched.
UC was productive at the plate as they scored one run in the third inning, four in the fifth and one in the sixth. In addition to Andujar and Rose's offensive performance, Allysa Lake also chipped in with three hits in four at bats, a double, an RBI and a run scored.
Game Two: 8 UC, 1 D&E
Charleston broke out to an early lead in the top of the first with a single by Rose and an Andujar home run. Other offensive contributors were Morgan Hoppe and Brionna Bowman, as Hoppe went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Bowman went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
McCown finished the MEC Tournament strong with only one run allowed in seven innings pitched to pick up her twenty-fifth win of the season.
Up Next:
With the championship win, Charleston earned the MEC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Pairings will be announced tomorrow at 10 a.m. on the NCAA Division II Selection Show.
