Gamecocks Drop Game To Ole Miss
COLUMBIA, S.C. —- No. 16 South Carolina softball dropped a heartbreaking 2-0 game to No. 24 Ole Miss in eight innings Sunday night at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. The two teams were scoreless through seven before the Rebels scored two in the top of the eighth to even the series at 1-1.
Carolina will now go for its first SEC series win of the season tomorrow night on SEC Network at 7:00 PM ET.
South Carolina (23-8, 2-6 SEC) ran into one of the nation’s brightest young pitchers as the Rebels (22-8, 3-2 SEC) trotted out Molly Jacobsen (10-1) to the circle to try to even the series.
Jacobson was spectacular on the night, going eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and just three hits allowed. Six of her strikeouts came in the final three innings as the JUCO transfer showed she has learned the art of finishing strong.
Dixie Raley (7-2) took the loss in the circle, but had nothing to hang her head about. The senior went seven scoreless innings before the Rebels started the eighth with a solo home run to take a 1-0 lead. Ole Miss followed the home run with a triple before a sacrifice fly out the following at-bat gave the Rebels the 2-0 lead they wouldn’t surrender.
Raley finished with night with five strikeouts and left eight Ole Miss runners on base. This marked the first time since Cayla Drotar went eight innings in 2018 against Texas that a Carolina pitcher went more than seven innings in the circle.
Kenzi Maguire, Jana Johns and Alexis Lindsey had the three Carolina hits on the night as the Gamecocks left six runners on base.
NOTES:
- With a single in the bottom of the third, Alexis Lindsey earned her first career SEC hit.
- Carolina shutout Ole Miss 2-0 to open the series on Saturday. It was the first time since a 3-0 win over Auburn in 2017 South Carolina blanked an SEC opponent. The Gamecocks have never earned two shutout victories in an SEC series under head coach Beverly Smith.
- How about Kelsey Oh yesterday. The sophomore tossed seven scoreless innings and a season-high nine strikeouts. The win marked Carolina’s second shutout victory of the season and the first since Winthrop on Mar. 7. Including the Saturday Ole Miss game, Kelsey Oh has 17 strikeouts in her last two SEC games.
- Mackenzie Boesel has shown she loves hitting at home this year. She’s batting .408 with 20 hits and 12 RBI at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.
- Head coach Beverly Smith, a North Carolina graduate, earned her 300th career victory as a head coach against Duke this past Wednesday night in a 5-4 victory.
