March 5, 2011
March 5, 2011 • Boca Raton, Fla.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Seton Hall | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| South Carolina | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | X | 9 | 12 | 2 |
| Molly Brossart |
BOCA RATON, Fla. – South Carolina (12-4) matched a season best with 12 hits, as five players all got two, leading the Gamecocks to a 9-2 win over the Seton Hall Pirates (5-7) in the second game of the day at the Florida Atlantic Miken Classic at the FAU Softball Stadium.
Senior rightfielder Laura Mendes and junior first baseman Molly Brossart both posted 2-for-4 outings with one run scored and two driven in. Brossart had a homer as part of her two hits. Juniors Evan Childs and Lauren Lackey and freshman Dana Hathorn all tallied two hits, a run and an RBI, with Hathorn posting a double and Lackey contributing two stolen bases.
The Pirates took the initial 2-0 lead in the first when Brittany Hammer got a single off of Gamecock junior pitcher Kierstyn White’s glove, which sent the ball into right field and allowed Jeanette Ragucci and Nalin Bennett to score.
South Carolina responded with nine unanswered runs, three of those coming in the second. Hathorn scored on a wild pitch, and Lackey followed with an RBI single that plated freshman Chelsea Hawkins. Lackey stole second to move into scoring position, and she scored from there on Childs’ RBI single.
Sophomore shortstop Samie Garcia put down a beautiful bunt, completing the suicide squeeze, to allow junior pinch runner Jackie Slawson to score from third to make it 4-2 in the fourth. Another Gamecock run came across in the fifth on Hathorn’s RBI double, driving in junior pinch runner Kylie Morin.
Four more South Carolina runs capped the scoring in the sixth. Mendes drove home Garcia and Childs with her two-RBI single. Brossart hit the next pitch over the wall in right-center for a two-run homer, her second of the year.
White (2-1) got the victory, allowing two unearned runs on six hits and four walks while striking out a career-best six. Seton Hall’s Hannah Hill (1-5) took the loss, giving up nine earned runs on 12 hits and four walks. She fanned one.
Garcia saw her nine-game hitting streak snapped while going 0-1 with two walks and a sacrifice. South Carolina improved to 9-0 in games when it hits one home run. Lackey’s two steals marks a career best for her. The win marked South Carolina’s 12th of the year, more than the squad recorded in all of 2010.
The Gamecocks close out their stay at the FAU Miken Classic on Sunday with games against Stony Brook and Michigan State starting at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. EST, respectively.
