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May 9, 2003

Plant City, Fla. – The South Carolina Gamecocks (38-17) aren’t quite ready to go home as they rallied to a 2-1 defeat over the Mississippi State Bulldogs (33-28) at the SEC Softball Tournament at Plant City Stadium. After two hours of delays due to a late start and field maintenance, sophomore Meghan Cornett drove in Danielle Quinones for the eventual winning run in the sixth inning. Cornett went 2-for 3 and scored the tying run off of an RBI single by centerfielder Jodi Fittro. For the tournament, Fittro has gone 4-for-8 and driven in three of Carolina’s four total runs.

“The win feels great. It was a long day today,” said head coach Joyce Compton. “We have been here since noon and sat through a long first game and had a delay to redo the foul lines. I thought we did a great job of being able to stay focused through it all.”

Freshman Melanie Henkes (17-5) earned her first SEC Tournament victory as she pitched seven innings, gave up one run on eight hits. Jennifer Nelson (7-7) recorded the loss for the Bulldogs as she gave up two runs on six hits to the Gamecocks.

In the bottom of the first, MSU’s Iyhia McMichael hit a two-out single to reach base. After stealing second, McMichael put the first run on the board when she scored on an RBI-double by Jennifer Waterman.

Carolina jumped on the board when Fittro recorded her second hit of the game and hit an RBI single in the fifth to drive home Cornett and tie the game 1-1.

The Bulldogs threatened in the fifth when they had the bases loaded with one out. On a fielder’s choice groundout by McMichael, Gamecock shortstop Amber Curtis threw out Callye Williams at home to prevent a run from scoring and for the second out. With one more chance to score in the inning, Waterman grounded out to shortstop and Carolina got out of the bases loaded jam with the tie intact.

Quinones hit a double with one out in the sixth to put the go ahead run for Carolina on base. With two outs and two runners on, Cornett singled to drive home Quinones from second to give USC a 2-1 lead.

“I know the type of team we are. We needed to pull together and come through after being down,” said Cornett. “I convinced myself when I got to the plate that I would be able to get the hit. We were concerned because we know Mississippi State is a great team with great hitters and would be tough to play.”

In the bottom half of the seventh, Henkes gave up back-to-back singles with one out to the Bulldogs as SEC Athlete of the Year McMichael was at the plate. McMichaels reached on a fielder’s choice groundout to short but an error by USC’s Debralee Troesh temporarily loaded the bases for State. On the same play, Nelson continued to head for home on the error but Troesh immediately threw to catcher Ashley Smith to throw out Nelson at home, preventing the tying run from scoring. State’s Waterman then grounded out to the shortstop for the final out and the 2-1 victory for Carolina.

Despite McMichael scoring MSU’s lone run of the game, Carolina held the centerfielder to just one hit for the game.

The Gamecocks will now play Saturday at 2 p.m. and will face the loser of the LSU vs. Alabama game.