March 5, 2011
March 5, 2011 • Boca Raton, Fla.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| South Carolina | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 11 | 2 |
| Providence | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 4 |
| April Borchardt |
BOCA RATON, Fla. – A career-best four RBI by senior pitcher April Borchardt led South Carolina (11-4) to a 8-5 win over Providence (3-5) in the first game of the day at the Florida Atlantic Softball Stadium on Saturday.
Borchardt (2-1) went 2-for-2 with a triple in the appearance, driving in two runs on each of the hits. She also got the win, giving up two earned runs on six hits and a walk in 3.1 innings of relief work. Helping Borchardt at the plate was junior leftfielder Kaitlin Westfall, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Senior designated player Laura Mendes also drove in two runs while getting a double. Junior Evan Childs added a double as well, while junior centerfielder Lauren Lackey had a triple.
South Carolina took the lead for good in the fifth when Borchardt drove home Westfall and freshman second baseman Dana Hathorn home with her shot through the right side. The deciding runs came across in the sixth, as the Gamecocks took advantage of a Providence error to score three with two outs. Westfall singled, and Hathorn reached on the error next. Borchardt followed with her triple, lacing the ball into the right field corner. Childs followed with her two-bagger over the leftfielder’s head, allowing Borchardt to score.
Mendes put the Gamecocks on the board in the third with her two-run double, scoring sophomores Samie Garcia and Hannah Milks after Garcia’s single and Milks’ walk.
Providence tied the game in the fourth at 3-3 on back-to-back home runs from Morgan Culver and Jessie Bryant. Culver followed Justine Stratton’s double, the first hit of the game, with a blast to center. Bryant followed, hitting the 1-1 pitch over the wall in right center to tie the game.
The Friars kept coming, cutting South Carolina’s lead to 5-4 on Ava Pandiana’s pinch-hit RBI single. Providence added another run in the sixth when Mackenzie Morgan doubled home Bryant in the sixth.
The Friars’ Alicia Grosso (2-3) took the loss, giving up eight runs, five earned, on 11 hits and four walks. She struck out two. Garcia extended her team-best hitting streak to nine games.
