Feb. 19, 2012
by Koby Padgett
Assistant Media Relations Director
MIAMI, Fla. – South Carolina (6-3) got the offense rolling, posting 14 hits in a 15-2 romp over Villanova (2-3) in both team’s final game in the Blue & Gold Feisberg Memorial at the FIU Softball Complex.
Senior leftfielder Kaitlin Westfall led the hit brigade, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Senior first baseman Molly Brossart went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. Sophomores Dana Hathorn and Chelsea Hawkins went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. All nine starters for the Gamecocks had a hit in the game.
The Gamecocks got on the board in the first on Westfall’s RBI double, scoring junior Samie Garcia after a pitch hit her to start the game. South Carolina exploded in the second, bringing 13 batters to the plate in the frame, scoring eight runs on eight singles, a walk, and a reach on error. Brossart and freshman Lacey Rother both had two-RBI singles in the frame, while Garcia, Hathorn and Hawkins all added RBI hits.
Villanova got a run back in the bottom of the second when Amanda Marquez led off the frame with a solo homer.
South Carolina added two more in the third on senior Evan Childs’ homer to center, scoring senior Lauren Lackey after she started the inning with a walk. Four more Gamecock runs crossed in the fourth on Lackey’s base-loaded triple and Westfall’s second RBI double of the contest.
In the fifth, the Wildcats got an RBI triple from Jamie O’Hara before she scored on a wild pitch to give the Wildcats their second and third runs.
Senior pitcher Kierstyn White (3-2) pitched a complete game, allowing three earned runs on six hits while striking out one. Caitlyn Delahaba (1-2) took the loss, giving up two earned runs on one walk in 1/3 of an inning.
South Carolina hosts Winthrop on Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. at Beckham Field.
