Gamecocks Drop Series Opener To Kentucky
May 4, 2018
LEXINGTON, K.Y. –No. 12 South Carolina softball dropped a tough 7-5 game to No. 20 Kentucky on Friday night at John Cropp Stadium in the series opener of the three game series. The Wildcats scored five runs in the first as the Gamecock comeback effort fell just short in the top of the seventh.
Carolina mounted a valiant comeback effort with three runs in the top of the seventh but the Wildcats did just enough to hang on for the victory.
Outside the five-run first inning for Kentucky, Carolina outscored the Wildcats 5-2 the final six innings as the Gamecocks dropped their first game this season when they scored three or more runs.
South Carolina (42-12, 14-8 SEC) got off to a tough start in the series opener as a walk with bases loaded followed with a grand slam gave the Wildcats the 5-0 lead through one inning it wouldn’t surrender.
The Gamecocks got two runs back in the third thanks to Alyssa VanDerveer and Kennedy Clark RBI to cut the deficit to 5-2 before Kentucky added two in the bottom of the sixth to take a 7-2 lead to the seventh.
Carolina added another run to start seventh with Mackenzie Boesel‘s eighth home run of the season to cut the Kentucky lead to 7-3. The home run was her 18th of her career, which is for ninth most in Carolina history.
The Gamecocks continued fighting in the seventh as Clark and Alyssa Kumiyama plated a pair of runs to cut it to 7-5 before the Wildcats closed out the victory.
Cayla Drotar (18-5) took the loss in the circle in 5.2 innings of work.
Carolina finished the night with 10 hits from seven different batters.
Notes
- With tonight’s action, Carolina moved to 42-12 (14-8 SEC) on the year. The 42 wins are the most in the Beverly Smith era, as are the 14 conference wins. Carolina has earned 40 or wins in a season for the first time since 2003 with three games left in the regular season.
- With her 2-for-4 performance at the plate, Kenzi Maguire has now reached base her last 11 games and improved her hitting streak to four games. The 11-straight games having reached base is her second longest streak of the year after she found a way on the first 23 games of the season. The 2-for-3 night was her 15th multi-hit game of the season.
- With her 23rd hit by pitch of the season tonight, Jana Johns is now two away from tying the Carolina record for a season, one away for tying for the seventh most in SEC history in a single season and is now tied for sixth on the Gamecocks’ all-time hit by pitch list.
- Tonight’s loss ended Carolina’s eight-game winning streak, which was the longest in the SEC. It is Carolina’s second-longest streak of the year behind the 17-game winning streak early in the year.
Up Next
No. 12 South Carolina continues its final SEC series of the year on the road at No. 20 Kentucky tomorrow at 2:00 PM ET on SEC Network Plus. Live stats will also be on gamecocksonline.com.
