Feb. 8, 2005
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Junior pitcher Melanie Henkes (3-0) pitched her third two-hit shutout in as many chances as the South Carolina Gamecocks (4-1) defeated the Charlotte 49ers (0-1) 4-0 in game one Tuesday night. Senior Kristin Hall drove in Lisa Long on an RBI-double, her fourth of the season, to give USC its first run of the game. Longo went 2-for-3 on the night and was also responsible for two more Gamecock runs in the fifth.
Henkes pitched her third complete game of the season and had a no-hitter going into the fourth inning. Henkes walked two batters and struck out six. She recorded 1-2-3 innings in the first, second fifth and seventh. In 20 innings pitched this season, Henkes has allowed no runs, six hits, four walks and has struck out 15.
In the fourth, Charlotte’s Kaycie Jones broke up the no-hitter as she singled to right field. The 49ers other hit also came in the fourth as second baseman J.J. McVay singled and advanced Jones to third, but a groundout by Emily Forbes stranded the runners and ended the rally for the 49ers.
The Gamecocks did all of their scoring in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fifth, Ashley Smith singled to drive in Meghan Cornett and put Carolina up 2-0. With two outs, Longo came through with a two-RBI single to put USC ahead 4-0. USC recorded seven hits, three walks in 6.0 innings off of 49er starter Kristen Bowen (0-1).
The win marked the 21st consecutive victory over Charlotte for the Gamecocks. USC improved to 26-2 in the series. The last loss to Charlotte came in 1990.
Team 123 456 7 R H E
CHAR 000 000 0 0 2 0
USC 001 010 0 4 7 0
WP: Henkes (3-0)
LP: Bowen (0-1)
