April 7, 2009
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina’s offense exploded for its first double-digit run output since 2007 with a 10-2 win in six innings over Coastal Carolina on Tuesday afternoon at Beckham Field.
The Carolina Gamecocks (15-16) saw the offense post nine hits, including three from sophomore Jill Semento. The squad had two triples and a homer as well, their second straight game with three extra-base hits. Semento’s five runs batted in was a career high and was last matched when McKenna Hughes did the same against Georgia on April 15, 2007.
The Gamecocks posted two unearned runs in the first. Junior Adele Voigt reached on catcher’s obstruction and moved to second on the error that allowed freshman Kristen Stubblefield to get on base. Semento brought home Voigt with a single, and Stubblefield scored on sophomore P.J. Fulmer’s sacrifice fly.
Coastal (11-13) cut the lead in half in the top half of the second. Stacy Snellings drew a leadoff walk and scored on the sacrifice bunt attempt by Morgan Dodd. The bunt was fielded by the Gamecock first baseman and was thrown into the right field corner, allowing Snellings to round the bases and Dodd to advance to third. South Carolina freshman starter Audrey Broyles (9-7) got out of the inning with a strikeout and a pair of plays at second.
South Carolina padded its lead with four runs in their part of the second. Sophomore Laura Mendes plated freshmen Kaitlin Westfall and Kandyce Redondo with a single to center. With two down, Stubblefield tripled to right, sending Mendes home. Semento hit a hot shot back to the pitcher, which allowed Stubblefield to score.
After a quiet third, the Chanticleers put another run up in the fourth. Three consecutive singles, the last by Olivia Williams, pushed in a run for Coastal.
The Garnet and Black answered in the bottom of the fourth when Semento lined a ball over the left field wall for her first homer of the season. Redondo drew a leadoff walk, and Voigt reached on an error ahead of the blast.
Coastal Carolina loaded the bases in the fifth but came up empty. Brittany Birnbaum connected for a one-out single, and the Chanticleers loaded the bases with two outs on a Snellings walk and a Dodd single to left. Broyles ended the threat when she got a grounder right back at her.
South Carolina ended the contest in the sixth when freshman Evan Childs, who pinch ran for Mendes after she hit a one-out triple, scored on Cagney Davis’s single off the pitcher. That ended the contest via the eight-run rule.
Broyles went five-plus innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on seven hits and two walks. She fanned six. Katelin Edwards (5-15) got the loss, giving up six runs, four earned, on five hits while striking out two.
The Gamecocks posted 10 runs for the first time since Feb. 22, 2007, against the College of Charleston, while it was the first game South Carolina has ended early since beating Charlotte, 8-0, on March 1, 2007.
South Carolina hosts No. 4 Alabama for a three-game series starting on Friday at 5 p.m.
