Oct. 7, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina’s softball team started the fall with successive 2-1 wins over Charleston Southern on Friday night at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.

A two-run fifth proved to be the difference in the first game against the Buccaneers. After senior Chelsea Hawkins singled, freshman Kaylea Snaer doubled over the head of the left fielder, putting two runners in scoring position. A wild pitch scored Hawkins, while Snaer crossed home with the go-ahead run on freshman Victoria Williams’ fly ball to right. Charleston Southern held a 1-0 lead after the top of the fifth when Amanda Matsumoto bunted for a single and scored when the throw to first went into the right-field corner.

The second game ended in the ninth when senior Ashlyn Masters scored on a two-out wild pitch. She doubled to center with one out and moved to third on junior Sarah Mooney’s grounder to second. The Gamecocks tallied a run in the first on Masters’ RBI single, scoring sophomore Alaynie Page after she reached on the wild pitch strikeout, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error. The Buccaneers tied the game in the fourth on Natalie Yonan’s run-scoring single with two down. A leadoff walk put a runner on, and pinch runner Ari Tedesco reached third on a Gamecock throwing error to set up Yonan’s hit.

Gamecock pitching starred throughout the night. Freshman Nickie Blue tossed six innings between the two games, winning both while fanning three without issuing a walk while giving up one earned run. Redshirt junior Julie Sarratt also threw six innings, allowing one unearned run while striking out seven against two walks. Junior Lakyn Shull walked four and struck out four in her four innings in the circle.

The middle part of the Gamecocks’ order did all the offensive damage, with Masters getting three hits in the contests. Hawkins, Snaer and junior Kristen Struett all had hits in both games, with Hawkins and Snaer joining Masters with doubles, while Williams drove in a run in the first game to go with a hit in the second. Senior Dana Hathorn reached base twice via hit-by-pitches in her three trips to the plate.

South Carolina hosts a tournament this weekend, playing five games in three days against North Carolina, Presbyterian, Lander and Spartanburg Methodist. Friday’s contest against the UNC Tar Heels begins at 7 p.m.