March 15, 2008
ATHENS, Ga. – South Carolina scored first, but it was not enough to hold of No. 22/20 Georgia, who got a 4-1 victory in the first game of the doubleheader at the UGA Softball Stadium. The Bulldogs move to 24-8 on the season, 1-3 in the Southeastern Conference, while the Gamecocks fall to 13-10, 2-2 in league play.
The Gamecocks got on the board in the third when junior Ashton Payne plated senior Christy Schoonmaker on a single to center. Schoonmaker led off the frame with a double. Freshman Laura Mendes followed with another single up the middle, but a brief rain shower halted play for 15 minutes. That seemed to be enough for Bulldog starter Sarah McCloud, who got a groundout, a foul out and a strikeout to end the threat.
Georgia tied up the game in the fourth on Melissa Wood’s towering home run to left center and later took the lead when Brianna Hesson singled home Taylor Schlopy, who reached on a one-out walk.
The Bulldogs added two more in the fifth, as pinch-runner Katie Backer scored on a Melissa Hendon wild pitch before Schlopy singled home Megan Wiggins, who had a one-out double to get the runners in scoring position.
Payne was the only Gamecock hitter with more than one hit, tallying two and an RBI. The single in the first stretched her hitting streak to 18 games.
McCloud (6-2) scattered five hits and four walks, giving up one run while striking out nine in the victory. Senior Melissa Hendon (5-5) allowed four earned runs on eight hits and two walks while punching out five.
