Gamecocks Drop Series Finale At LSU

BATON ROUGE, LA. —- No. 16 South Carolina softball gave itself a chance to take the series but ultimately fell to No. 8 LSU, 9-1, in six innings in the weekend finale on Sunday afternoon at Tiger Park. The Gamecocks jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning but three Tiger home runs proved to be the difference in the rubber match.
 
With the win LSU improved to 9-3 in SEC play while the Gamecocks moved to 3-8. 
 
South Carolina (25-10, 3-8 SEC) continued on with its momentum gained from the win on Saturday night and took a 1-0 lead just three batters in. Mackenzie Boesel opened the game with a double to the gap in right center before Kenzi Maguire bunted her to third with one out. Jana Johns’ first hit of the series the next at-bat gave Carolina its only lead of the afternoon at 1-0 through one. 
 
The Tigers (31-7, 9-3) responded quickly with a solo home run in the bottom frame to tie the game at 1-1 heading to the second. 
 
Both teams traded scoreless innings in the second and third before a Carolina error in the outfield put an LSU runner on second to start the bottom of the fourth. The Tigers hit a two-run blast the next at-bat to take the 3-1 lead it wouldn’t surrender. 
 
A grand slam later in the fourth extend the lead up to 7-1 for the Tigers. 
 
LSU added two additional runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 9-1 and seal the series win. 
 
Kelsey Oh (3-4) took the loss in the circle for the Gamecocks. 
 
South Carolina had 5 hits on the afternoon as Boesel, Johns and Kennedy Clark had at least one. Clark and Johns had two while Boesel scored a run. 
 

• South Carolina scored at least one run in every game of a conference series for the second time this season in Baton Rouge this weekend. 
• Kennedy Clark posted a Carolina best five hits over the course of the weekend. She also tied for a team-best three runs alongside Mackenzie Boesel. 
• The Gamecocks moved to 3-3 against LSU in the last six meetings between the two teams. 
• Two of the three ranked wins this season for Carolina have come on the road after the Saturday night win over LSU. It was the sixth win in program history in Baton Rouge. 
• Kenzi Maguire and Jana Johns have reached base in four-consecutive games following the Sunday game. Mackenzie Boesel has a hit in her last three conference games. Kennedy Clark has a team-best three multi-games in SEC contest through the first four series.