March 2, 2002
PLANT CITY, Fla. – Megan Matthews (6-2) pitched a four-hit shutout to give South Carolina (12-6) a 6-0 win over Missouri (6-11) while Aleca Johnson improved to 3-1 as she came in and pitched a perfect two and one-thirds inning to carry the Gamecocks over Michigan State 2-1 . Johnson struck out five of the seven batters she faced. USC recorded a season high 13 hits against Missouri. With the win against Missouri, head coach Joyce Compton earned her 700th victory as Carolina’s head coach.
In the win against Missouri, the Gamecocks scored in every inning but two as they recorded 13 hits. USC jumped on the board in the second inning when right fielder Adrianna Baggetta hit an RBI double to score Melissa Sandel giving Carolina a 1-0 lead. That would be all the Gamecocks would need since Matthews struck out 12 en route to her fourth shutout of the season. Together, Sandel and Baggetta were responsible for four of Carolina’s six runs. Sandel scored a run and went 3-for-4 with one RBI while Baggetta scored and went 2-for-3 with an RBI.. The complete game pitched by Matthews now makes her the all-time leader in career complete games with 105.
Against Michigan State (2-7), Amber Curtis hit her second homerun of the tournament, fourth of the season to put USC ahead 1-0 in the second inning. The Spartans tied the game in the fifth when Sandy Lewis hit a two out RBI single to score Lauren Pederson. Pederson came in to pinch run for Robyn Golden, who reached base after being hit by a pitch. With the game tied and a runner at second, Johnson came in for relief and struck out Jessica Beech for the third out and got the Gamecocks out of a jam.
Carolina fought back in the bottom half of the fifth when Kristin Hall led off with a single and catcher Danielle Quinones advanced Hall on a sacrifice bunt. After Jodi Fittro popped out to the shortstop, left fielder Kim Evans hit a sharp single towards the shortstop to score Hall and give the Gamecocks a 2-1 lead. In the top of the seventh, Johnson then struck out all three batters to end the game.
The Gamecocks improved to 3-1 in the Plant City Strawberry Fest Tournament. USC will play their final game in the tournament tomorrow at 1 p.m. when they face Central Michigan.
