Gamecocks Run Rule Ole Miss
Carolina scores 10 runs to earn first SEC victory
OXFORD, Miss. —- Freshman Riley Blampied’s three-run home run in the top of the second helped propel South Carolina softball to a commanding 10-1 run-rule victory in five innings Sunday in the Ole Miss series finale at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. Carolina scored six runs in the frame and an additional four over the final two innings to secure its first conference win of the year.
Four different Gamecocks posted multi-hit games (Kenzi Maguire, Kassidy Krupit, Blampied and Aaliyah White) as the Garnet and Black out-hit the Rebels 13-2.
Cayla Drotar (2-4) earned the win in the circle. She went all five innings with just one run allowed and two hits.
The Gamecocks started the scoring effort in the top of the second with Blampied’s one-out home run to push three runs across and put Carolina on top 3-0. Mackenzie Boesel’s one-out double and Drotar’s two-out single pushed three more across to give the Garnet and Black a 6-0 advantage heading to the bottom of the second.
Maguire continued the scoring in the top of the fourth with her second double of the afternoon to make it 7-0 before Krupit’s single up the middle a few batters later scored two more runs and made it 9-0.
Ole Miss scored one in the bottom of the fourth, but Carolina responded with another run in the top of the fifth thanks to Jordan Fabian’s two-out double to make it 10-1 in favor of South Carolina.
From there, Drotar’s three up, three-down inning in the bottom of the fifth secured the run-rule victory.
Maguire shined at the plate with a 4-for-4 afternoon with an RBI and two runs scored. Krupit was 2-for-4 with two RBI while Blampied was 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs. White finished 2-for-3 with two runs.
NOTABLE
- Carolina scored 10 or more runs in an SEC game for the ninth time under the direction of head coach Beverly Smith. It’s the fourth time the Gamecocks have done so against Ole Miss in that stretch.
- Sunday marked the first 10-run conference game for South Carolina since a 10-1 win in five innings over Auburn on April 13, 2019.
- The Gamecocks have now won two-straight games on Masters Sunday.
- Sunday was the second time in her career Kenzi Maguire has posted four hits in a game. Both have come this season.
- Cayla Drotar retired 13 of 19 (68%) of batters faced on Sunday.
