South Carolina Drops Second Game to Ball State, 10-9
Feb. 28, 2014
TEMPE, Ariz. – Ball State won the battle of the comebacks in South Carolina’s second game on Friday, as the Cardinals scored five unanswered in the last two innings to take a 10-9 victory from the Gamecocks at Farrington Stadium as part of the Arizona State Louisville Slugger Invitational.
The Cardinals (8-2), last year’s regular-season Mid-American Conference champ, scored three in the sixth to begin the comeback. With two outs, Briana Evans singled up the middle, starting the rally. Three straight walks brought in the first run, scoring Evans. An infield single for Taylor Rager brought home Loren Cihlar, and Audrey Bickel followed with a liner off Gamecock freshman Nickie Blue in the circle, letting Emily Dabkowski score close the Gamecocks lead to 1 at 9-8 after they took the lead in the top of the sixth.
Ball State finished things in the seventh, with the bases loading on a hit by pitch and two walks. A Gamecock error allowed the tying run to score in the form of Jessica Craft from third and keep the bases loaded with one out. And a pitch went through the catcher’s legs, scoring Selena Reyna to end the game.
Before Ball State’s comeback, South Carolina (14-4) retook the lead with a huge sixth inning. The first two runners got on base via Sarah Mooney’s single and Victoria Williams’ walk. With pinch runners for both on base, senior right fielder Chelsea Hawkins blistered a ball towards second that couldn’t be handled, scoring freshman Kate Shereyk from second. The throw from the second baseman to third got loose, letting freshman Taylor Williams score as well and let Hawkins take third on the play, making it a one-run game, 5-4 for Ball State.
After a groundout to the pitcher, sophomore Jordan Bizzell hit an opposite-field homer on a 0-1 pitch to give South Carolina its second lead of the game. Cardinal reliever Kelsey Schifferdecker hit senior Brooke Barnhill in her pinch-hitting appearance, and senior Dana Hathorn drew a walk. A grounder to first let both runners move into scoring position for redshirt freshman Lauren Masters, who entered in place of freshman Kaylea Snaer. Masters fought through 11 pitches before depositing the 12th beyond the wall in left-center, giving South Carolina the 9-5 lead.
Mooney put the Gamecocks on top originally with a two-run shot to left, scoring Hathorn after she started the contest with a single. The Cardinals tied things in the bottom of the first on Hanne Stuedemann’s two-out, two-run double. That scored Cihlar and Dabkowski after a leadoff single and a Gamecock error on a sacrifice bunt. Ball State tried to take the lead when a pitch got away from the Gamecock catcher Mooney, but she flipped back to redshirt junior Julie Sarratt covering and cut down the runner at the plate.
Ball State took the 5-2 lead in the third on Bickel’s three-run homer to left on a 3-1 pitch. Dabkowski doubled to start the inning, and Jennifer Gilbert drew a walk to set up the Bickel blast.
Schifferdecker (5-0) picked up the win in relief despite allowing three earned runs on a hit and two walks in 1.2 innings. She fanned two. Sarratt (5-2) took the loss, allowing seven runs, four earned, on seven hits and four walks. She struck out four.
Bickel went 2-for-3 with her first homer of the year and four RBI to lead Ball State. Evans went 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Stuedemann drove in two with a double. Dabkowski scored three times, drove in another run and stole a base to go with a double in a 1-for-3 day. Four other Cardinals also had a hit.
Mooney and Bizzell both had two hits and two RBI with their homers, while Masters went 1-for-2 with the three-run shot. The home run ranked as the first collegiate one for both Bizzell and Masters. Hathorn scored twice and was one of four other Gamecocks with one hit.
The Gamecocks close their stay in the desert on Saturday at 12:15 PM MST against Detroit.
