March 18, 2011
COLUMBIA, S.C. – After getting the tying run to second base in the fifth, South Carolina (16-10, 3-5 SEC) made two errors in the bottom of the inning to continue an Auburn (23-4, 4-2 SEC) rally and let the No. 23/24 Tigers end the game at 9-1 at Jane B. Moore Field on Friday night.
Amber Harrison started the big fifth with a walk. A force play put Lauren Guzman on first before Kelsey Cartwright reached on a dropped pop fly. Kelley Smiley and Katie Colton had back-to-back RBI singles to make it 5-1. After a groundout, Hilary Mavromat connected for a pinch-hit single that scored two more. Morgan Estell put the fifth run on the board with her RBI single to center, and she scored on the next play after an error by the Gamecock shortstop.
This came after the Gamecocks threatened to tie it in the top of the inning. Senior P.J. Fulmer got a one-out single off the top of the wall in left, and pinch runner Jackie Slawson moved into scoring position on junior Lauren Lackey’s sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Samie Garcia got hit by a pitch, and sophomore Hannah Milks singled behind the third baseman to load the bags. Auburn starter Jenee Loree threw a ball in the dirt, allowing Slawson to score. But Loree came back to get a ground out to second to end the inning and the threat.
Auburn’s Estell started the scoring in the first with a leadoff homer to left. She plated the second Auburn run as well with her RBI single to left. Elizabeth Eisterhold drove in the third Tiger run in the fourth with her single off the glove of the Gamecock leftfielder.
Loree (7-2) gave up the one earned run on three hits while striking out seven in the complete-game victory. Gamecock redshirt sophomore Audrey Broyles (4-3) took the loss, allowing two earned runs on five hits and a walk in three innings. She struck out two.
Estell went 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Colton had two runs scored and an RBI in her 2-for-3 night. And Caitlin Stangl scored twice without a hit. Garcia, Fulmer and Milks collected the three Gamecock hits, while Garcia reached base twice more via hit-by-pitches.
The Gamecocks and Tigers face off again in game two on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. CDT.
