Gamecocks Close Weekend in Orlando With Win
Feb. 25, 2018
ORLANDO, Fla. –No. 24 South Carolina softball extended its season-high winning streak to 12 games with a commanding 15-0 win in five innings over Lehigh on Sunday to close out the D9 Citrus Classic at the ESPN Wide of Sports Complex. Two South Carolina grand slams, one by Tiara Duffy and Jana Johns, sparked the Gamecocks to victory as Carolina finished the week 6-0.
Johns led the way at the plate for the Gamecocks, going 3-for-3 with seven RBI. Duffy also shined, going 1-for-1 with four RBI. Duffy sparked the Gamecock scoring effort in a big way in the second, as she blasted a grand slam to centerfield to extend the lead to 5-0 through two.
Kelsey Oh (4-1) went the distance in the circle allowing just three hits while striking out five.
“Tiara has been having fantastic at bats,” head coach Beverly Smith said. “I thought for sure she was going to get us a hit. She put a great swing on a good pitch. I loved the grand slam. It was the spark we needed.”
The Gamecocks struck early and often in the dominating win over Lehigh. Jana Johns RBI-single in the first to score Kenzi Maguire gave Carolina an early 1-0 lead and from there on the Gamecocks never looked back.
After Duffy’s pinch-hit grand slam in the second, Carolina continued scoring in the third as Alyssa Kumiyama singled to right field to score Johns and make it 6-0. The lead was extended to 10-0 in the fourth thanks to Kennedy Clark, Johns and Alyssa VanDerveer plating runs.
Five more runs were plated in the fifth thanks to Clark drawing a walk before Johns’ grand slam.
The Gamecocks finished with nine hits from six different batters.
NOTES —
The Gamecocks have scored at least one run in all 16 games this season. Dating back to last season, Carolina has done so in 17 of its last 18 games.
Head coach Beverly Smith improved to 242-179 with the win. She is the second-winningest coach in school history.
The Gamecocks won today’s game to move to 15-1 on the year and their 12th-straight victory of the season. Prior to this season, Carolina last won 11-straight games in 1997. The Gamecocks went on to WCWS that season.
Kenzi Maguire has now reached base in all 16 games to start the season.
Carolina finished the weekend 5-0 with 41 runs on 44 hits with eight extra base hits. The Gamecocks posted a .373 batting average and .487 on-base percentage. Carolina’s pitching staff of Cayla Drotar, Kelsey Oh and Dixie Raley finished with a 0.72 ERA while allowing just three runs and a low .175 opposing batting average.
UP NEXT —
Carolina returns home on Feb. 28 when it plays host to Duke for the first time ever. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM ET on SEC Network Plus. Live stats and updates will be provided on Twitter and gamecocksonline.com.
