March 6, 2011
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Senior pitcher Ashley Chastain threw her first shutout as a Gamecock, a one-hitter, helping South Carolina (13-4) to a 8-0 win in six innings over Stony Brook (2-7) in the Gamecocks’ first game on Sunday in the Florida Atlantic Miken Classic.
Chastain (2-0) allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out three in the contest. Taylor Chain (1-1) took the loss for the Seawolves, giving up four runs, one earned, on five hits and a walk.
The Gamecocks posted a pair of RBI singles in the first, as junior leftfielder Kaitlin Westfall and freshman second baseman Dana Hathorn had consecutive run-scoring hits to make it 2-0 after an inning. Two more runs came across in the second. Senior catcher P.J. Fulmer led off the inning with a double and scored after a throw to first on junior centerfielder Lauren Lackey’s bunt single got away from the Seawolves. Lackey took second on the play and scored in the exact same manner when sophomore shortstop Samie Garcia’s sacrifice bunt attempt was tossed away down the right field line.
Freshman Sarah Eidt’s smart baserunning allowed the Gamecocks to make it 5-0 in the fifth. With two down, the pinch runner Eidt got caught in a rundown between second and short, giving freshman Chelsea Hawkins the chance to score from third before Eidt was tagged.
South Carolina closed things out in the sixth when Westfall doubled home a pair of runs with one down, and Hathorn followed with a hit that got through the middle to score the eighth one.
Westfall went 3-for-3 with the double and three RBI, tying her career best in both hits and RBI. Junior third baseman Evan Childs went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Hathorn had a 2-for-4 outing with two RBI. Fulmer had a pair of doubles in a 2-for-3 day.
