Feb. 28, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ga. – Freshman Chrissy Schoonmaker drove in freshman Margaret Person in the eighth inning to push 20th-ranked South Carolina over No. 7 Michigan 2-1 at the NFCA Lead-Off Classic Saturday. The Gamecocks improved to 11-1 overall and 3-1 in the tournament while Michigan fell to 12-4 on the season.
Senior Stacey Johnson (5-0) pitched her fourth complete game of the season as she allowed one run on five hits and struck out six. The Gamecocks managed two runs on five hits off of Jennie Ritter. Nancy Crane went 2-for-3 with one run.
For the third time in the tournament, USC took the lead in the first inning, as Meghan Cornett hit an RBI double to score Crane. Michigan evened the score at 1-1 in the third when Courtney Betley scored on an RBI single by Tiffany Haas.
From there, the score would remain tied and forced into extra innings. In the eighth, the international tie-breaker rule went into effect. In the top of the inning, Michigan had Michelle Teschler at second and during the Wolverines first at-bat, catcher Ashley Smith threw to second base and caught Teschler in a run down. The Michigan outfielder was eventually caught in a 2-4-6 play as Amber Curtis tagged Teschler for the first out of the inning. Johnson would get out of the inning unharmed and led USC to the bottom half of the inning.
For the Gamecocks, Person was placed on second and moved over to third on a sacrifice groundout by McKenna Hughes. With one out, Schoonmaker then stepped to the plate and singled to left field to drive home Person and the win against a Top 10 team this season for the Gamecocks.
USC is now in the semifinals of the Gold Championship bracket and will play No. 11 Florida State at 11 a.m. Sunday. The Seminoles defeated No. 5 Oklahoma 3-2 to advance to the game against USC. The winner of the USC vs. FSU game will play in the championship game at 1 p.m. while the loser will head home.
