South Carolina Downs LIU Brooklyn 9-5 to Start Friday
Feb. 14, 2014
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Behind freshman first baseman Kaylea Snaer’s three-RBI day, South Carolina (4-1) defeated LIU Brooklyn (1-5) 9-5 in Friday’s first game for the Gamecocks in the Florida Atlantic Strike Out Cancer Tournament at the FAU Softball Stadium.
Snaer hit her third homer and drove in three while ranking as one of four Gamecocks to score twice, along with senior second baseman Ashlyn Masters, senior shortstop Codee Yeske and sophomore left fielder Alaynie Page. Masters went 3-for-4 with two RBI, while senior designated player Dana Hathorn drove in two runs with sacrifice flies and went 1-for-2.
The Gamecocks came back to take the lead in the third, starting things with back-to-back hits from Page and Yeske. Sophomore centerfielder Ansley Ard advanced the runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and Hathorn drove in the first Gamecock run with her sacrifice fly to right. Masters plated Yeske with a single to left to make it a 3-2 game. Snaer followed and drove one over the wall in left center to hand South Carolina the lead.
LIU Brooklyn took a 3-0 lead all on unearned runs. In the first, Whitney West singled to center and took second on a mishandled ball. A passed ball gave her third, and she scored on a wild pitch. In the third, the Blackbirds loaded the bases on two errors and a walk. Gamecock starter Julie Sarratt got two strikeouts before Ariana Lopez connected with a single to right center, scoring two.
South Carolina added to its lead in both the fifth and sixth. Masters singled home her second run of the game, while Snaer duplicated her efforts immediately after. A wild pitch let Masters score, and an illegal pitch brought home Snaer to make it 8-3. Hathorn’s second sacrifice fly of the game came in the sixth and handed the Gamecocks a 9-3 lead.
The Blackbirds scored twice on RBI fielder’s choices in the seventh after loading the bases, but a weak pop fly to Yeske ended the contest.
Sarratt (1-1) picked up the win, tossing five innings and giving up three unearned runs on two hits and four walks while striking out seven. Shelley Procter (1-3) took the loss for LIU Brooklyn, giving up eight earned runs on eight his in 4.1 innings of work. She struck out two.
West had a 2-for-4 outing to lead the Blackbirds at the plate.
