April 7, 2002
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Freshman pitcher Aleca Johnson pitched one inning and faced four batters to claim her sixth victory of the season, while Melissa Sandel drove in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh to lead South Carolina (29-11, 10-5 SEC) to a 3-2 win and a three-game sweep over Auburn (26-18, 5-10 SEC).
The Gamecocks took advantage of their first opportunity to score in the second inning when Sandel led off with a walk, Adrianna Baggetta was hit by a pitch, and Megan Cornett walked to load the bases. USC was able to score when Sandel tagged up for home on a sacrifice fly by Danielle Quinones. The Garnet and Black added another run in the third inning when Debralee Troesh hit an RBI single to score Kim Evans, who also reached base on a single.
To lead off the fifth, AU’s Paige Jones was safe at first due to an error by Sandel. With one runner on, Megan Matthews would hold the Tigers at bay for four and two-thirds innings before Auburn broke through with a run. An RBI single by Lindsey Chitwood scored Jones’ pinch runner Jennifer Hammock and cut USC’s lead in half, 2-1. After another batter was walked, Matthews was replaced by Stacey Johnson. Johnson got Carolina out of the inning and had a 1-2-3 sixth to keep the lead for the Gamecocks.
In the seventh, Jones was hit by a pitch, catcher Deni Zeigler reached on an error by Troesh and Martha Phillips singled to load the bases before pinch runner Karie Williams scored on a fielder’s choice by Chitwood and tied the game 2-2 for the Tigers. Aleca Johnson entered the game with the bases loaded and recorded the final three outs, including two strikeouts.
In the bottom half, USC loaded the bases and with two outs, Sandel hit an RBI single to center field to drive in the winning run. Carolina scored three runs on four hits off of Kristin Keyes who fell to 12-9 for the season. USC improved to 14-2 against Auburn.
The Gamecocks return to action on Wed. April 10 when they host Eastern Division rival, No. 24 Georgia. Wednesday’s doubleheader will begin at 5 p.m.
