Feb. 27, 2010
| Coach Compton |
BOCA RATON, Fla. – An offensive outburst by South Carolina (8-4) led the Gamecocks past Loyola, 15-1, in the second game of the day at the fourth annual Florida Atlantic Strike Out Cancer Tournament.
Junior Laura Mendes and sophomore Lauren Lackey both had three hits and two runs scored, while Mendes drove in two to Lackey’s one. Sophomore Evan Childs drove in four in a 2-for-5 effort, while sophomore Sam Arbaugh scored three runs in the game. Junior April Borchardt scored three runs and drove in three more while going 2-for-4.
The Gamecocks got two in the first after Borchardt scored on Mendes’ single to center before senior Lindsay Walker doubled home Mendes with her two-hop shot off the wall down the left field line. Loyola (1-2) responded with a run in the bottom half of the frame when Lauren Arceneaux laid down a great squeeze bunt to score Ellen Kresl, who tripled to lead off the inning.
South Carolina added four in the second to blow the game open. Lackey scored on an error, while senior Adele Voigt poked an RBI single down the leftfield line to bring home Arbaugh. A Mendes infield single loaded the bases for Childs, who put a pitch into left to score Borchardt and Voigt. Two more Gamecock runs came across in the third, with Borchardt driving in freshman Briana Hamilton with a single and Arbaugh scoring from third on a throwing error by the Ramblers’ shortstop.
The Garnet and Black put up seven more runs, all unearned, in the seventh. Mendes drove in two with an RBI single, Childs tripled in a pair, while Lackey brought in the final run with an infield hit.
Junior Ashley Chastain (3-2) got the win, giving up one earned run on four hits and three walks. Sophomores Kelsey Goodwin and Kierstyn White combined to throw three innings of scoreless relief to close out the win. Seana Stillson got the loss, allowing six runs, five earned, in two innings.
The 15 runs were the most for the Gamecocks since scoring 15 in a win over South Dakota State on March 5, 2005. The 13 RBI are the most for the team this season, while the 17 hits match its output in the season’s opening game against Coastal Carolina.
South Carolina closes out their stay in south Florida tomorrow with games starting at 11 a.m. against Providence and Florida Atlantic.
