March 23, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (24-6) picked up a 2-1 victory on Wednesday night over Charleston Southern (13-17) at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field behind a strong performance from senior All-American Alaynie Page.
Page put the Gamecocks on top for good with a little help in the sixth. She walked to start the frame and moved to second on sophomore Krystan White’s sacrifice bunt. A wild pitch moved Page to third, and a passed ball let her score.
The All-American Page reached base all four times up, going 2-for-2 with a double and two walks. Her fourth-inning single plated the game’s first run, scoring freshman Alexis Mack from third after she entered as a pinch runner, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Charleston Southern evened the contest in the fifth, starting the two-out rally with an Amanda Matsumoto infield single. She stole second and scored on a slow grounder that Jade Gandara beat out for a hit.
Gamecock junior Nickie Blue (11-5) picked up the win in relief, striking out three of the seven batters she faced and walking one. Buccaneer Hayley Elkins (6-12) took the loss, giving up two earned runs on five hits and six walks in 5.1 innings.
Game Changer:
Page’s disciplined at-bats set the tone for the Gamecocks, who drew seven walks in the contest.
Key Stat:
The seven walks are tied for the most this season for the Gamecocks with the first Southern Utah win on Feb. 26.
Notables:
• Page’s two walks moved her past fellow All-American Dana Fulmer (1992-95) into third place on the career bases-on-balls chart.
• White reached base twice on a walk and a single while posting two sacrifice bunts.
• Junior first baseman Kaylea Snaer doubled in the sixth, tying her for 15th on South Carolina’s single season list in game 30 this season.
• Senior second baseman Lauren Masters walked twice.
• Freshman catcher Lex Hull also reached base twice, knocking a single and walking once.
• Junior Jessica Elliott pitched the first five innings, striking out five while giving up three hits, three walks and one earned run.
• Charleston Southern’s Stephanie Bergmann drew two walks, the only Buccaneer to reach twice.
Tweet of the Game:
Nice night for @GamecockSoftbll! pic.twitter.com/aEYzfHeh83
— Adam Bonifas (@ABonifas10) March 23, 2016
Quotable:
Head coach Beverly Smith
Tonight, we did a good job getting on base. We had some very productive at-bats. We just didn’t get the hit we needed to drive in more runs, but our offense did what it needed to do, taking advantage of the game situations. Jessica (Elliott) kept everybody off balance, and Nickie (Blue) was commanding, coming in and closing the game.
It was a good win for us tonight. All games count one for us, so this midweek game is just as important as our weekend SEC games. Now we’re going to get focused on Auburn.
Up Next:
South Carolina hits the road for the next four games, starting with a three-game series at No. 3/3 Auburn this weekend. First pitch for Friday and Saturday are both scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT on SEC Network + on Watch ESPN.
