March 18, 2009
COLUMBIA, S.C. – A wild fifth inning gave South Carolina a 8-7 lead, but the Rebels of the University of Mississippi came back to score five in the final two frames to take a 12-8 win in the nightcap of the doubleheader on Wednesday at Beckham Field.
The Rebels (12-13, 1-7 SEC) scored seven runs in the first five innings, starting with an unearned run in the second. Amber Tramp led off the frame with a single, and Ole Miss used Amanda Hutcheson to pinch run for their catcher. It proved to be a great move, as she scored from first when the Gamecocks (13-10, 1-8 SEC) threw the ball into the right field corner on Alyssa McGovern’s sacrifice attempt.
Five Rebel runs came across in the third. With two outs and runners at second and third, Ashley Dowdy beat out an infield single, and both runners came in to score on the play. McGovern singled home Dowdy two batters later, while Aly Presswood brought home two teammates with her base hit to right.
Another Ole Miss run was scored in the fifth when McGovern plated Dowdy with a single to left.
Down 7-0, the Gamecocks (13-10, 1-8 SEC) put together their longest inning of the season, going 13 batters deep while scoring eight in the frame. The Gamecocks loaded the bases on hits by freshmen Kandyce Redondo and Kaitlin Westfall sandwiched around a walk to fellow rookie Lauren Lackey. Sophomore Laura Mendes drew a walk to force in Redondo. After a strikeout, freshman Evan Childs came to the plate, bringing in Lackey with a single to left. Another bases-loaded walk, this one drawn by freshman Audrey Broyles, made it 7-3. Junior Lindsay Walker then ripped her first double of the game to center, driving in two runs. Senior Jacqueline Wetherbee brought in another run with her single to left, while pinch runner Sam Arbaugh tied it at 7-7 when she score after the left fielder let the ball get past her. Lackey nearly got her second hit of the inning, but Dowdy caught her liner for the second out. Junior Adele Voigt, in her first at-bat of the frame after being pinch hit for earlier, gave the Gamecocks the lead with her hit back through the middle that scored Wetherbee. The Rebels finally got out of the inning when pinch-hitter Cagney Davis lined out to left.
However, Mississippi came back immediately, tying the game on Lisa Conchos’s triple to right. Michelle May brought her in with a one-out chopper that made it to center. A contested check-swing call on a potential hit-by-pitch ended the inning and, as a result, the night for Rebel head coach Missy Dickerson.
The Rebels tacked on three more in the final frame. Three straight walks with one down loaded the bases for Lauren Grill, who tripled to left center to clear the bags. Walker led off the Gamecock half of the seventh with a double, but South Carolina would not be able to score anymore in the game.
The two schools combined to use seven pitchers who threw 277 pitches in the two hour, 36 minute affair. Becky Nye (8-8) got the win in relief, allowing no runs and just one hit in 2.1 innings of work. Krystle Robinson (1-4) got the loss, allowing three earned runs on four hits in two innings out of the bullpen.
Walker was the offensive star for the Gamecocks, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. The three hits matches a career high, while the pair of doubles are her best in a single game. Wetherbee and Redondo also both had two hits in the game, season bests for both.
South Carolina returns to action on Saturday with a doubleheader against No. 9 Georgia to start the three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Beckham Field.
