April 6, 2004
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 18th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks earned their 20th win of the season as they defeated No. 5 Georgia 7-3 in game one of the Tuesday doubleheader. Stacey Johnson improved to 12-4 as she pitched her 12th complete game of the season. Melissa Sandel went 3-for-3 while Ashley Smith went 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Meghan Cornett went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
The Gamecocks (20-12, 9-10 SEC) punched 10 hits off of Kasi Carroll, the most hits for USC since Arkansas on March 16. Carroll fell to 8-3 while the Bulldogs went to 35-8 and 12-4.
Nancy Crane led off the game with a single and Cornett reached on an error to give USC their first two base runners of the game. That set the stage for Smith who doubled to left field and put USC on the board 2-0.
Johnson held Georgia scoreless through 4.2 innings until UGA cut the lead in half when pinch runner Melissa Cook scored on a double by Nicole Barber.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Gamecocks went on a four-run tear as they recorded four hits and took advantage of two Bulldog errors, to take a 6-1 lead. Cornett and McKenna Hughes both had RBI singles while Hughes eventually scored on a fielder’s choice.
The Gamecocks added another run in the sixth when Chrissy Schoonmaker scored on a ground out by Crane and took a 7-1 lead. The Bulldogs did cut into USC’s lead as they scored two runs in the seventh. Barber doubled to left field to score two with one out but it wasn’t enough as UGA grounded out for the final two outs and ended the game.
The win was USC’s fourth win over a top 25 team this season. The Gamecocks are 3-2 in games against top 10 teams so far this season.
