Feb. 16, 2010
Tying a single-game record with three doubles, sophomore Evan Childs helped lead South Carolina (4-0) to a doubleheader sweep of Longwood (0-2) with a 9-2 win in Tuesday’s second game at Beckham Field.
Childs ties Ashley Smith’s mark, set on April 17, 2004, in a 3-for-4 outing. She drove in two runs and scored another, while classmate Lauren Lackey and junior Laura Mendes both added two hits. That duo and senior Lindsay Walker all scored two runs, while Walker led the squad with three on her second home run of the season.
The Gamecocks got on the board with four in the first, as Mendes singled home Lackey before Walker cleared the bases with a shot to left center. Three more runs came across in the second, with Mendes starting the scoring by doubling home Lackey. Childs followed later with a two-out double, bringing in both Mendes and Walker.
Longwood tried to fight back, getting two runs in the third. Tricia Nelson brought home Amy Betterton after back-to-back doubles. A head’s up play by Walker at short took Nelson off the bases when Walker got the ground ball to her left, spun and threw to third ahead of the runner. But the Lancers would not go away, as Nichole Simmons poked a single to center to bring home Kami Nuckols.
South Carolina tried to end things in the fifth, getting two runs in the frame. Childs led off the inning with her record-tying double and moved to third on a grounder to short that freshman Briana Hamilton beat out for a hit. After a lineout, junior April Borchardt came up and forced a throwing error by the pitcher, allowing Childs to score. Hamilton scampered home shortly after on a passed ball. With the game-ending run on third and just one out, Lancer pitcher Brooke Short got a strikeout and a groundout to escape the jam.
Borchardt got her first Gamecock win in relief, throwing four scoreless innings, striking out three while allowing two hits and two walks. Sophomore Audrey Broyles started and threw three innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits while fanning five. Briana Wells got the loss for Longwood, going two innings while allowing eight hits and seven runs, five earned.
Freshman Hannah Milks made her debut in the field and at the plate, getting her first career hit with a bunt single in the sixth.
The Gamecocks hit the road for the first time in 2010 this weekend as they play in the UCF Invitational. The action starts on Friday at 11 a.m. ET against Florida A&M.
