April 16, 2005
Columbia, S.C. – Sophomore McKenna Hughes recorded an RBI groundout to drive in Margaret Person in the fifth inning, but it wasn’t enough as South Carolina (24-23-1) fell to No. 9/12 Alabama (47-9, 18-5) 7-1 in game two of the series doubleheader. Jennifer Wright (16-3) earned the win for the Tide while Kate Pouliot (6-9) took the loss for the Gamecocks.
Alabama had a four-run second that served enough runs for the victory over USC. Jackie Wilkins went 4-for-5 at the plate while Capper Reed went 2-for-3. Alabama added two more runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth to cap off the sweep.
Margaret Person went 2-for-3 while Meghan Cornett, Jessica Josker and Chrissy Schoonmaker each recorded a hit to give USC five for the game. The Gamecocks however gave up seven runs on 15 hits, the most USC has allowed this season.
USC had a chance to score in the second when the bases were loaded due to two singles and a walk, but with two outs, Wright recorded her second strikeout of the game and halted the Gamecocks’ chances to put a run on the board.
In the fifth, USC scored its first run in 23 innings when Person, Cornett and Josker recorded three straight singles to load the bases with one out. That was when Hughes came up with a grounder to the shortstop but Person was able to come home and prevented the second straight shutout of the day for the Gamecocks.
Alabama brought in Chrissy Owens in the sixth to relieve Wright and retired USC in order and faced four batters in the seventh to maintain the lead for the Tide and end the game.
Game three of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. (ET).
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Alabama…………. 040 021 0 – 7 15 1 (47-9, 18-5)
South Carolina…… 000 010 0 – 1 5 1 (24-23-1, 7-13)
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Win-J. Wright(16-3) Loss-K. Pouliot(6-9)
