Feb. 23, 2010
| Coach Compton |
COLUMBIA, SC – A pair of two-hit days by juniors April Borchardt and Laura Mendes went wasted as South Carolina fell to Charlotte, 8-1, on Tuesday afternoon at Beckham Field.
Mendes had a double in her two hits, as the Gamecocks fell to 6-4 on the season. Charlotte (7-0) got a dominating performance from starting pitcher Emily Jeffery, who struck out a career-high 17 while allowing one unearned run on four hits and three walks for her fifth win of the year. Kendra McCall went 2-for-5 at the plate, scoring a run and driving in three.
The Gamecocks started the scoring in the third, loading the bases with no one out. Jeffery fought back with two strikeouts but allowed a run when the 49ers’ second baseman mishandled a grounder, letting sophomore Kaitlin Westfall come home. Jeffery decided to get out of trouble by herself, getting a strikeout to escape without any further damage.
Charlotte answered with four in the top of the fourth, all coming with two outs. Natalyn Blanton singled home Keri Palma, while Chelsea Stamey drove in Lorena Vela. A hit batter loaded the sacks for McCall, whose single to center drove in two.
The 49ers added four more in the sixth, again with the runs coming with two outs. McCall signled home Whitney Williams after she stole second to move into scoring position. A throwing error on Carolina’s third baseman allowed two more runs to score, while Briana Gwaltney closed the scoring with a single to left that plated Tenaya Tucker.
The Gamecocks fought in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with one out, but Jeffery again came through with a pair of strikeouts to get out of the jam.
Sophomore Kelsey Goodwin (0-2) picked up the loss, allowing four earned runs on five hits in 3.2 innings of work.
The Gamecocks host Campbell tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Beckham Field. All fans that bring a canned food item for Harvest Hope Food Bank get into the game for $1.
