March 16, 2003

Columbia, S.C. – It was well worth the wait for Gamecock fans as the South Carolina vs. LSU softball series got underway Sunday morning. After a rain out on Saturday, the two teams finally met in what was a thrilling two-game series. No. 14 South Carolina improved to 19-6 overall and 3-1 in the SEC as the Gamecocks rallied in the tenth inning to beat the No. 8 LSU Tigers 3-2 in game one. Senior Debralee Troesh scored the winning run on a two-out RBI single by sophomore Tia Rogers. Due to time restraints, game two ended in the sixth inning with LSU leading 6-3. Rogers and third baseman Danielle Quinones hit two home runs to provide USC its runs in game two.

Pitcher Stacey Johnson (8-4) went the distance for Carolina in her longest outing of the season. Johnson pitched all ten innings, allowed two runs on six hits and struck out seven batters. Both teams threatened to score several times as Carolina left 11 runners on base and LSU left 10. After the game was knotted 0-0 for nine innings, in the tenth it looked as if the Tigers would walk away with the win. With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, baserunner Jennie Reeves and LaDonia Hughes scored on a two-out RBI single by Tessa Lynam to give LSU a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, Carolina placed Kim Evans at second and Amber Curtis reached base on an error. Evans and Curtis then moved to third and second on a sacrifice hit by centerfielder Jodi Fittro, then tied the game on an RBI single to left field by Troesh. Quinones grounded out to third base for the second out of the inning and advanced Troesh to third. Ashley Smith was intentionally walked before Rogers came up with a single to right field, scoring Troesh to win the game 3-2.

The win marked the Gamecocks first win over a Top 10 team this season. It also snapped a five-game losing streak to the Tigers for Carolina.

LSU bounced back in game two and took a 3-0 lead in the second inning as Leigh Ann Danos lined a two-RBI double down the right field line and Camille Harris hit an RBI single for the Tigers’ three runs. In the third, Blair Smith hit her first career home run and drove in three to put LSU up 6-0.

In the fourth inning, Aleca Johnson relieved starter Melanie Henkes and shut down LSU’s scoring. Down but not out, Carolina got on the board as Rogers hit her second home run of the season, a solo shot to left center field. Johnson continued to have control over the Tigers as she gave up no hits and walked only one in three innings worth of work.

Carolina cut the LSU lead to three in the sixth when Quinones hit a two-out, two-run long ball to centerfield, her third of the season. It wasn’t enough as the inning ended on a groundout by Rogers with a score of 6-3. The game was then stopped due to time restraints.