April 13, 2012
by Koby Padgett
Assistant Media Relations Director
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – South Carolina shortstop Samie Garcia led off the game with a homer, but that would be all the scoring for the Gamecocks (23-21, 3-14 SEC) as No. 2/2 Alabama (38-2, 15-2 SEC) gained a 9-1 win in five innings in front of 3,265 fans at Rhoads Stadium on Friday night.
The junior Garcia drove the 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall for her seventh homer of the season, tying her for 10th in a single season at South Carolina. She added a bunt hit later, accounting for half of the Gamecocks’ four hits. Senior Kaitlin Westfall and sophomore Dana Hathorn also had hits for South Carolina.
Alabama rebounded with two runs in the first, with Cassie Reilly-Boccia doubling home Jennifer Fenton before scoring herself on the second of the Gamecocks’ four errors in the contest. The Crimson Tide lead grew to 4-1 in the second on Fenton’s RBI double, which scored Courtney Conley, and Jazlyn Lunceford’s run-scoring single, plating Fenton.
Conley came through in the third with a three-run homer to make it 7-1 Alabama, and the Crimson Tide ended it in the fifth on Keima Davis’s sacrifice fly and Fenton’s double, scoring Jackie Traina and Danae Hays after they started the inning with a hit batsman and a walk, respectively.
Traina (24-0) got the victory, giving up four hits and one earned run while fanning seven in the complete game. Gamecock senior Kierstyn White (6-8) took the loss, allowing seven runs on eight hits and a walk in 2.2 innings.
Game two between the Gamecocks and Crimson Tide is set for 4:30 p.m. CDT at Rhoads Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
