Gamecocks Fall in Five at No. 4/3 Tennessee 11-2
March 21, 2014
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – An early 2-0 lead for South Carolina evaporated, as No. 4/3 Tennessee (26-3, 3-1 SEC) scored 11 unanswered runs to claim an 11-2 win in five innings on Friday night at Lee Softball Stadium.
The Gamecocks (17-10, 2-5 SEC) took a 2-0 lead in the first, scoring when freshman designated player Victoria Williams doubled home senior Ashlyn Masters after she started the game with a single. Senior Brooke Barnhill ran for Williams and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After senior Dana Hathorn was hit by a pitch, junior catcher Sarah Mooney hit a hard grounder to third that Tennessee mishandled, letting Barnhill score and make it a 2-0 South Carolina lead.
Tennessee cut the lead in half in the first, as senior Madison Shipman singled to right, allowing freshman Megan Geer to score after she started the game with a single before stealing second. The Lady Vols made it 4-2 in the second, with Geer driving in a run with her single hitting the top of the wall in right center with the bases loaded tying the game. Senior Melissa Davin followed with a double to hand Tennessee the lead.
Seven Lady Vols scored in the third. Freshman Haley Tobler hit her first career homer with a runner on to make it 6-2 and chase Gamecock freshman Nickie Blue (10-5). Tennessee loaded the bases with two hits and a walk, and the second walk in the inning, issued to Davin, forced home a run. With a 3-2 count and the bases still loaded, Shipman sent one to left that just cleared the wall, making it 11-2. Two more Lady Vols reached base, and Blue came back in to try to stop the scoring. Hathorn caught a line drive and tagged second to end the inning.
Tennessee senior Ellen Renfroe (17-0) tossed a complete game in the victory, striking out four while giving up two runs, one earned, on three hits. Blue took the loss, allowing six earned runs on 10 hits and a walk in four innings. She struck out two.
Williams had two doubles and two of South Carolina’s three hits. Freshman Taylor Koenig went 3-for-3 for Tennessee, while Rainey Gaffin, Geer and Shipman all had two hits. Shipman and Tobler both had homers, while Davin and Cheyenne Tarango hit doubles.
The Gamecocks and Lady Vols start at 1:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, the second game of the weekend’s series.
