May 10, 2003

Plant City, Fla. – A three-run home run in the fifth inning by LSU’s (47-15) Christy Connor sealed the deal for the Tigers as they defeated South Carolina 5-1 to eliminate the Gamecocks from the SEC Tournament. Carolina hit into three double plays and stranded eight on base as USC fell to 38-18 overall. Stacey Johnson (16-9) pitched four and one-third innings and gave up five runs on five hits, while LSU’s Tessa Lynam (16-3) threw seven innings and gave up one run on five hits. For the tourney, USC went 1-2.

“I felt we had a lot of early opportunities,” said head coach Joyce Compton. “We had a couple of strikeouts looking to begin innings and the we turned around and gave up a four-pitch walk. Both of their early runs that scored were lead off walks.

Nancy Crane was the Gamecocks lone multi-hit batter as she went 2-for-3 at the plate while Sara Fitzgerald went 2-for-3 for LSU. Connor was the only player from either team to record an extra-base hit.

After catcher Ashley Smith walked to lead off the second inning, pinch runner Samantha Jennings advanced to second on a sac bunt by Meghan Cornett and eventually scored on an RBI single by Melissa Sandel to put USC up 1-0.

LSU took advantage of a Gamecock error to tie the game in the bottom half of the second. Alicia Owen, who led off with a walk, tagged on a fly out by Julie Wiese and came home on an error by Carolina, making the score 1-1.

The Tigers got their first hit of the game in the third inning as Fitzgerald hit a single to second and drove home LaDonia Hughes, who walked to reach base. The run gave LSU a 2-1 lead.

LSU secured the lead in the fifth when Christy Connor hit a three-run homer over the left centerfield fence and gave the Tigers a 5-1 lead.

The Gamecocks now wait to hear where they will play in the NCAA Tournament May 15-18. The selection show will be held Sunday, May 11 at 10 p.m. (EST) on ESPN News.