March 12, 2011

Box Score

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Another stellar offensive performance by the Gamecocks (15-7, 2-2 SEC) gave the team a 9-5 victory over the Ole Miss Rebels (9-17, 0-2 SEC) on Saturday afternoon at Beckham Field.

Junior leftfielder Kaitlin Westfall led a trio of Gamecocks with two hits, driving home two while posting a double. Sophomores Samie Garcia and Hannah Milks both had two hits and two runs scored, while Garcia stole a pair of bases. Freshman second baseman Dana Hathorn drove home three runs, a new career high, and doubled in a 1-for-3 day. Freshman pitcher Julie Sarratt added her second two-run home run of the season as well. Natalie Nimmo went 2-for-3 to lead Ole Miss.

The Rebels got on the board in the top of the first when Amanda Hutcheson scored on a wild pitch.

South Carolina came back with five runs in the third. Milks drove in a run with a single to center, while Westfall doubled to center to plate Garcia and Milks. Hathorn followed with a two-RBI single to right to make it 5-1.

Ole Miss got one run back in the fourth when Londen Ladner hit her second homer of the series out to left. But the Gamecocks posted two more runs in the fourth, as senior catcher P.J. Fulmer tripled to start the frame and scored on a wild throw home later. Hathorn drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 7-2.

The Rebels made things interesting in the fifth, scoring three in the frame. Calli Overbeck singled up the middle to score pinch runner Jayla Hubbard, while a Gamecock throwing error allowed the final two runs to score. But junior third baseman Evan Childs redeemed herself on the next play, tagging out the runner trying to score from third before wheeling a throw back to third to Garcia, who tagged out a runner sliding in there.

Sarratt put the game out of reach in the sixth, crushing an 0-2 pitch over the wall in left center for a two-run blast.

Senior April Borchardt (4-2) got the win in relief, tossing two-thirds of an inning while giving up three runs, one earned, on three hits. Sarratt finished the contest for her first save, throwing 2.2 innings of perfect relief. Brittany Barnhill (1-5) took the loss for the Rebels, giving up four earned runs on three walks and three hits while striking out two.

The win clinches the series for South Carolina, the program’s first SEC series win since taking two of three from a fourth-ranked Alabama squad in 2009. It’s also the first SEC series win for head coach Beverly Smith, in her first year at the helm of South Carolina’s softball team. The Gamecocks improve to 10-1 on the year when hitting a home run, while they are 15-4 when making two errors or less in the field.

South Carolina and Ole Miss wrap up the series on Sunday at 12 noon EDT at Beckham Field.