Homers Lead Gamecocks To Victory Over Missouri
April 20, 2018
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 12 South Carolina softball blasted two home runs in the fifth inning after trailing 3-1 to take the series opener with a 6-3 win over Missouri on Friday night at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. Tiara Duffy‘s two-run shot off the scoreboard made it 3-3 before Alyssa Kumiyama‘s three-run deep shot to centerfield gave the Gamecocks the 6-3 lead they wouldn’t surrender.
Fresh off of being named to the top 25 watch list for NFCA Freshman of the Year, Kelsey Oh (11-3) shined in the circle coming on in relief to pitch 6.1 innings of action to get the win while allowing just one walk.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Gamecocks and improved Carolina to 3-3 in Friday night SEC games.
South Carolina (35-11, 9-7 SEC) started strong in the first, posting a quick zero up on the board to make things 0-0 through one.
Missouri (24-22, 6-12) opened up the scoring in the second with two runs to take an early 2-0 lead before Carolina got one back in the bottom frame via a Krystan White RBI hit to make it 2-1 Missouri after two.
The Tigers built their lead back up to two with a run in the third to make it 3-1, but from there it was only a matter of time before the Gamecocks would change the game.
Two batters into the bottom of the fifth, Duffy sent an absolute moon shot off the top of the scoreboard to score Jana Johns and tie the game at 3-3. A few batters later, Kumiyama gave Carolina the lead it wouldn’t surrender with a three-run home run to make it 6-3 Gamecocks through five.
Carolina finished the night with nine hits off the bats of six different players. Kennedy Clark accounted for the Gamecocks’ multi-hit performance going 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Notes
- With tonight’s win, Carolina improved to 35-11 (9-7 SEC) on the year. Carolina is 19-2 at home on the year and has taken both completed home SEC series (No. 2 Tennessee and No. 20 Arkansas) thus far. The Gamecocks are 3-0 this year at home in Friday SEC games.
- How big was Carolina taking the lead through five innings tonight? Well coming into tonight’s action the Gamecocks were 6-11 when tied or trailing with two innings left in games but were 22-0 when leading after five.
- With 10 games remaining in the regular season, Carolina has surpassed last season’s win total with 35. With the conference win tonight, the Gamecocks have also surpassed last seasons victory mark in SEC play (eight wins).
- Head coach Beverly Smith moved to 262-189 after Saturday’s games. She is the second-winningest coach in school history.
Up Next
No. 12 South Carolina continues its key three-game series against Missouri on Satruday at home at 12:00 PM ET on SEC Network. The first two games of the series will be on SEC Network while the series finale on Sunday will be on SEC Network Plus.
