April 16, 2011
by Koby Padgett
Assistant Media Relations Director
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – South Carolina (22-21, 4-14 SEC) tied the game in the seventh to force extra innings, but Arkansas (11-33, 2-19 SEC) came through in the end, taking a 2-1 win in nine innings in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
Gamecock sophomore shortstop Samie Garcia went 4-for-5 in the game, a new career high in hits, and scored South Carolina’s only run in the seventh. With two down and Garcia the lead runner at third, Arkansas walked junior first baseman Molly Brossart. The fourth ball skipped away from Arkansas’s catcher, allowing Garcia to sprint home and tie the game.
Arkansas took the early 1-0 lead in the third on Amanda Geile’s single through the right side, scoring Chloe Oprzedek when the Gamecock catcher lost the handle on the ball after she made the tag on the play at the plate.
The Razorbacks ended the game in the ninth when Courtney Breault’s fly to left went deep enough to allow Linnea Ketcher to tag and score with the bases loaded.
The Gamecocks left multiple runners on base on four occasions, including after loading the bases with two down in the first thanks to a single, a walk and a Razorback error. South Carolina’s other best chance to score came in the fourth, as junior third baseman Evan Childs singled, took second on an Arkansas error and moved to third on freshman Chelsea Hawkins’s groundout. Junior centerfielder Lauren Lackey drew a walk and stole second to give the Gamecocks two runners in scoring position. Garcia came up and hit a fly ball to left that looked to be a sacrifice fly. But the Razorbacks appealed to third after the play, and the umpire said Childs left early, negating what would have been the first Gamecock run.
Layne McGuirt (3-8) got the win, pitching the final eight innings for the Hogs, allowing one unearned run on seven hits and three walks. She struck out three. Julie Sarratt (6-7) took the loss, giving up one earned run five hits and a walk in 4.2 innings. She fanned six.
South Carolina falls to 0-3 this year in extra-inning games, dropping all three of those in SEC play this season. Garcia’s four-hit game is the Gamecocks’ first this year and first since Laura Mendes did it on March 2, 2008 against Gardner-Webb.
The Gamecocks and Razorbacks face off in the rubber game of the series on Sunday at 2 p.m. CDT, with ESPNU broadcasting the game nationally.
