Gamecocks Drop Opener at No. 15/17 Georgia 6-2
April 4, 2014
ATHENS, Ga. – South Carolina (24-13, 5-8 SEC) dropped Friday night’s contest at No. 15/17 Georgia (32-5, 6-4 SEC) 6-2 on Friday night at Jack Turner Softball Stadium.
The Bulldogs’ Geri Ann Glasco, who provided the bulk of the offense in her team’s two wins in Columbia last year, struck again, going 2-for-3 with a homer and five RBI in tonight’s contest. Paige Wilson and Alex Hugo both scored twice in 1-for-2 days for Georgia.
Georgia loaded the bases in the first with one down on a walk, a hit by pitch and a Gamecock error. Glasco took the 2-2 pitch the opposite way to plate two and give the Bulldogs the lead. They would load the bases again in the inning, but Gamecock redshirt junior Julie Sarratt got a liner to second and a grounder to short to end the threat.
The Gamecocks drew within one in the second when senior Chelsea Hawkins lined a homer over the left-field wall, her third of the season. The one-run deficit turned to two again in the fourth. Georgia’s Niaja Griffin ran for Tina Iosefa after she drew a walk, and Griffin smartly took third on a slow grounder to second, setting up Bethany Beggs’ sacrifice fly to left.
South Carolina cut the UGA lead back to one when redshirt freshman third baseman Lauren Masters came through with a two-out RBI single, scoring senior shortstop Codee Yeske from third. Yeske doubled with one down and moved to third on a groundout to short to set up Masters’ hit.
The Bulldogs stretched the lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Glasco sent a ball over the pole down the right-field line for her sixth homer of the year. That scored Wilson and Hugo after both had one-out singles.
Georgia sophomore Chelsea Wilkinson (19-3) tossed a complete game in the win, giving up two earned runs on three walks and four hits while striking out seven. Sarratt (1-8) allowed six runs on four hits and three walks in five innings in the loss.
Senior Ashlyn Masters extended her hitting streak to 16 games by leading off the game with an infield single. Hawkins had a homer in a 1-for-2 day, while Yeske doubled and scored the second run. Hawkins’ blast is her 19th in her collegiate career, breaking a tie for fourth in South Carolina’s annals.
The two teams play again on Saturday, with first pitch set for 2 p.m.
