April 9, 2011
by Koby Padgett
Assistant Media Relations Director
FARMVILLE, Va. – Maggie Margadonna’s homer in the seventh ended a back-and-forth game and gave Longwood (21-8) an 8-7 victory over South Carolina (19-20) in the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Lancer Field.
With one down in the seventh, Margadonna launched a 3-1 pitch out to left to break a 7-7 tie and end the game. She went 2-for-4 with a double and the homer.
The Gamecocks took a 1-0 lead when sophomore Samie Garcia deposited the first pitch of the game over the wall in center. But the Lancers followed with four in the first, the final three coming on home runs. Nichole Simmons scored from third on a double steal, while Brooke Short hit her second two-run homer of the day. Jordan Cox followed with a homer to nearly the same spot as Short’s to make it 4-1 in the Lancers’ favor.
Freshman second baseman Dana Hathorn cut the Longwood lead in half in the second with her two-out RBI single that scored junior pinch runner Kylie Morin from second. She came on for junior first baseman Molly Brossart after she posted the two-out double.
South Carolina tied the contest in the fourth thanks to a Longwood error. After back-to-back bunt hits by junior centerfielder Lauren Lackey and sophomore leftfielder Hannah Milks, a throw from the third baseman got away from the infield on senior Laura Mendes’ hit, allowing both runners to score.
But Longwood responded again, first with Cox’s second homer of the game in the third. Ashley Kramer drew a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored when the throw went into left, handing the Lancers a 6-4 lead. A pair of two-out hits, first a single by Simmons followed by Margadonna’s RBI double, pushed the lead back to three.
Mendes started a rally in fifth, getting hit by the first pitch of the frame. Junior Kaitlin Westfall clobbered a pitch out to right for her third homer of the year to make it 7-6. Junior third baseman Kelley Dillon followed with a triple to right, and Brossart plated her with a single to center, tying the game at 7-7.
Briana Wells (18-8) got the win, giving up seven runs, six earned, on 11 hits and five walks. She struck out five. Julie Sarratt (5-6) took the loss, allowing the one hit and one earned run in 2.1 innings of relief.
Brossart led the Gamecocks with her 3-for-4 effort, contributing a double and an RBI. Hathorn had a 2-for-3 day with an RBI. Simmons set the table for the Lancers, going 3-for-4 and scoring twice. Cox had two of the Lancers’ four home runs in the game.
South Carolina hosts Coastal Carolina on Monday at 4 p.m. at historic Beckham Field.
