Feb. 19, 2012
by Koby Padgett
Assistant Media Relations Director
MIAMI, Fla. – A back-and-forth game went against South Carolina (5-3) in the end, as Jacksonville (4-6) captured a 7-6 win in both team’s first game on Sunday in the Blue & Gold Feisberg Memorial at Florida International University.
South Carolina started the scoring in the second by loading the bases before JU pitcher Sarah Sigrest’s illegal pitch scored junior pinch runner Hannah Milks from third. Senior Lauren Lackey followed with an RBI single to give the Gamecocks the 2-0 lead. Jacksonville got a run back in the bottom of the frame, as Karson Tuck doubled home pinch runner Adrienne Ramsay from second.
Senior third baseman Evan Childs gave South Carolina a two-run lead again with a shot over the center-field wall in the third. But the Dolphins responded with three in the bottom of the inning. Kayla Ouellet singled, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Jacey Warner’s sacrifice fly to foul territory in right. Sarah Simon followed with a line shot over the left-field wall, tying the game at 3-3. An error allowed Amanda Schmidt to reach, and consecutive singles, the latter by Tuck, score Schmidt and give the Dolphins a 4-3 lead.
The Gamecocks retook the lead in the fifth behind RBI singles from freshman Lacey Rother and sophomore Chelsea Hawkins. Jacksonville answered again in the bottom of the inning when Ashley Simon put a ball over the third-base bag, scoring two to make it 6-5 Dolphins.
Lackey tripled with one out in the sixth, setting up Samie Garcia, who dropped a perfect squeeze bunt to allow Lackey to slide in safely at the plate and tie the game at 6-6.
Jacksonville answered one last time, with Ouellet starting things with a chop single to third that ended up putting her on third after the throw got away from the Gamecocks. After Warner was hit by a pitch, Sarah Simon lined one to center. The Gamecock throw was online, but the speedy Ouellet slid in safely to hand Jacksonville the 7-6 lead that would be the final score.
Sigrest (2-3) got the win, giving up six earned runs on eight hits and two walks. She fanned six in the complete game. Kierstyn White (2-2) took the tough loss, allowing three runs, one earned, on five hits and a walk in 3.2 innings of relief work. She struck out one.
Childs, Hawkins and Lackey all had two hits for the Gamecocks. Ouellet and Tuck had two hits each for Jacksonville. It was the fourth game this season that South Carolina committed two or more errors, and the Gamecocks are 1-3 in those contests.
