May 18, 2002
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina softball team rebounded quickly after being no-hit the last time they faced the Georgia Bulldogs (59-17) and came out swinging as they defeated the Bulldogs 9-3 in NCAA Regional Softball action from Columbia, S.C.
The Gamecocks (45-19) now turn their attention to the top-ranked Bruins of UCLA (53-6) as those two team will square off for the Regional Championship, and a berth to the Women’s College World Series, on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Georgia, after losing to both UCLA and South Carolina today, has been eliminated from the double elimination tournament.
South Carolina scored their nine runs off of 12 hits on Georgia pitchers Nichole Urban and Rachael Hawkins. Georgia had three runs off of five hits on Carolina pitcher Megan Matthews and committed two errors.
South Carolina got things underway in the top of the first as center fielder Jodi Fittro singled. Kim Evans laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Fittro to second. Fittro then got to third base after a wild pitch. Amber Curtis would pop up to the second baseman, giving the Gamecocks two outs. Debralee Troesh then sent a shot into deep center field that cleared the fence and gave Carolina a 2-0 game. The next batter Adrianna Baggetta would strike out to end the inning.
South Carolina would get another run in the top of the second as Meghan Cornett, who reached base on an error by Georgia shortstop Michelle Tyree, would advance to second by a single by Designated Player Tia Rogers. Samantha Jennings then laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Rogers to second and Cornett to third. Danielle Quinones would single to left field, scoring Cornett. The next two batters, Jodi Fittro and Kim Evans, would both fly out to short to end the inning. With a 3-0 South Carolina lead, Georgia would wake up offensively in the bottom of the third inning. Michelle Tyree would start the inning off with a solo homerun to left field. Amy Brannan would smash a hit to center field and get a single. Nicole Barber would get the first out of the inning as she flied out to left. Katie Lewis would draw a bases on balls to put runners on first and second. Kim Wedland would also walk, loading the bases. Michelle Green would strike out to give the Bulldogs two outs. Shannon McKeon would be up next and doubled down the left field line, scoring Brannan and Lewis. Kristen Bell would ground out to the pitcher, but the damage was done as Georgia tied the game at three runs apiece.
The game remained deadlocked at three until the top of the fifth inning when the offensively struggling Gamecocks came to life. With one out, Amber Curtis would draw a bases on balls. Debralee Troesh then hit a single to left field, advancing Curtis to second. Adrianna Baggetta would be up next and hit a single to second base, loading the bases. Meghan Cornett then hit a single into right field, which scored both Curtis and Troesh. Cornett advanced to second on the throw. Tia Rogers hit a fielder’s choice scoring Baggetta and advancing Cornett to third. With runners on first and third, Samantha Jennings was next up and blasted a home run ball over the left field fence. The next two batters, Danielle Quinones and Jodi Fittro, would ground out to end the inning, but the Gamecocks still posted six runs to take a 9-3 lead. That 9-3 lead would be all Carolina would need, as neither team would score again in the game.
“The homerun felt really good,” said South Carolina second baseman Debralee Troesh. “It was my first one ever in college. I have been really confident up at the plate this weekend. I have felt like I was hitting the ball well and I’m glad that one finally went over the fence. I’m glad it came right now. I think this win was huge. It’s good to know we are still in regionals and playing this deep in the season. We have had a lot of really close games with Georgia and unfortunately have not come out on top in all of them, so this win felt really good.”
“Georgia had a difficult time today,” said Carolina Head Coach Joyce Compton. “They came off of a tough loss. The UCLA game was very emotional for them, and then to come right back and play us, it’s totally different. That was a big factor for us. We had been sitting around all day and were able to jump on them early and get some momentum and make it a little tougher on them at that point. It was big for us to come out and swing right away.”
