April 26, 2008
UNIVERSITY, Miss. – South Carolina got nothing going on offense, while the Rebels plated three runs in the first four innings to capture a 3-0 win in the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. Mississippi kept its Southeastern Conference Tournament hopes alive with the win, moving to 24-26 overall and 8-19 in league play, while the Gamecocks fall to 20-23 and 7-15.
The Red and Blue struck in the third when Amber Tramp doubled home Lauren Grill and Alyssa McGovern with two outs. Grill drew a one-out walk, while McGovern dragged the bunt past a charging Chrissy Schoonmaker for a single. Carolina starter Kate Pouliot got Lisa Conchos to pop out before Tramp’s shot to right center.
Mississippi added another run in the fourth when Ashley Dowdy drilled the 1-1 pitch over the center-field wall for her second home run of the year.
The Gamecocks tried to claw back in the game in the fifth. Sophomore Cagney Davis led off the frame with a single, but she was forced off on Jessica Josker’s grounder. Freshman Cassie Gogreve singled to left to bring the tying run to the plate. But Nye wriggled out of the jam after an 11-pitch at-bat with Schoonmaker. The redshirt senior hit a sharp grounder to third, Dowdy where tagged the bag to force out Josker and threw on to first to get the double play.
Pouliot (5-4) allowed three earned runs on three hits and three walks in three innings pitched. Redshirt freshman Krystle Robinson allowed just one hit and one walk in her three innings in relief. The Rebels’ Becky Nye (11-9) got the victory, giving up just two hits, a walk and a hit batsman in the shutout. She struck out two.
The Gamecocks will try to salvage game three of the series on Sunday morning, as first pitch has been moved to 11 a.m. CDT to try to avoid rain forecasted for the Oxford area.
