April 5, 2003

Lexington, Ky. – South Carolina (26-10, 10-5) snapped its two-game losing streak Saturday as they defeated the Kentucky Wildcats (9-27, 1-15) 7-0 in game one of a doubleheader. Kristin Hall, Debralee Troesh and Meghan Cornett all hit home runs, a season high, to give Carolina five of its seven runs. Troesh and Cornett now have nine career home runs each and tie for seventh among USC’s all-time home run leaders. At the plate, Troesh went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI while Cornett went 1-for-3 and had three RBI. Stacey Johnson improved to 13-5 overall and 6-2 in the SEC while UK’s Amy Kendall fell to 6-15 overall.

Carolina snapped its scoreless innings streak at 17 when Hall hit a home run to left centerfield in the third inning, giving USC a 1-0 lead. The home run marked Hall’s first of the season, second in her career. Kentucky attempted a rally in the bottom half of the inning as they had runners at first and second with no outs, but Troesh turned a double play, Carolina’s 14th on the season, off of a ground out by Jessica Nance. With a runner still at third, Nikki Jones walked to keep the inning alive but Johnson struck out Rachel Frieberg to end the inning and stop the Wildcats’ threat.

In the fourth, Troesh homered for her team leading eighth home run of the season and gave Carolina a 2-0 lead over Kentucky. With the home run, Troesh is one away from tying USC’s all-time record for home runs in a season. The record is nine, which Joyce McMillin recorded in 1999.

Carolina exploded in the sixth as they scored five runs on five hits. Nancy Crane and Amber Curtis led off the inning with back-to-back singles and Crane would eventually score on an RBI single by Troesh, giving USC a 3-0 lead. The Gamecocks went ahead 4-0 when Jodi Fittro, who reached base on a fielder’s choice, would score next for Carolina on an error by Megan Glenn. Carolina would seal the deal when Cornett blasted her third home run of the season to drive in three runs and give USC a 7-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Johnson would sit the Wildcats down in order as she struck out two and forced a groundout. Johnson recorded eight strikeouts, a personal best against an SEC team this season.