March 24, 2012

Box Score

by Koby Padgett
Assistant Media Relations Director

COLUMBIA, S.C. – For the second-straight day, South Carolina (19-15, 2-8 SEC) couldn’t get the bats going, as LSU (22-8, 6-1 SEC) claimed a 5-0 win on Saturday afternoon at Beckham Field.

The Gamecocks threatened once, getting the go-ahead run to the plate in the seventh. South Carolina loaded the bases with one out, with senior Lauren Lackey and junior Hannah Milks drawing walks around a drop fly ball that put senior Evan Childs on base. LSU senior pitcher Brittany Mack (10-4) settled down, getting a grounder right back to her and a hopper to third to end the threat. Mack struck out seven and walked four while allowing only one hit, to Gamecock senior first baseman Molly Brossart in the seventh, in the shutout victory.

The Tigers posted a run in the first on a sacrifice fly for the second time on the weekend. A.J. Andrews started the contest with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and took third on an illegal pitch. After Ashley Langoni drew a free pass, Juliana Santos sent a ball deep to right that the Gamecocks caught, but it allowed Andrews to score to make it 1-0.

Langoni made it 3-0 in the third when she followed Jacee Blades’ single with a shot that cleared the center-field wall. Two more insurance runs came across in the seventh when Santos drew a bases-loaded walk and Falcon was hit by a pitch after that.

Milks stood as the only Gamecock to reach base twice on the day, drawing two walks in her appearance off the bench. Blades and Langoni both had two hits for the Tigers, with Langoni hitting her fourth homer of the year.

Redshirt junior Audrey Broyles (5-5) took the loss for the Gamecocks, giving up five earned runs on six hits and seven walks. She fanned three in the seven-inning outing.

South Carolina will try to salvage the final game of the set on Sunday at 1 p.m. against LSU at Beckham Field.