Gamecocks Claim Series at Arkansas with Sunday's 6-4 Win
April 13, 2014
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Behind a 2-for-2 day from senior shortstop Codee Yeske and three home runs total, South Carolina (28-15, 8-10 SEC) gained a 6-4 win at Arkansas (25-20, 3-12 SEC) on Sunday to take the series.
Yeske drove in two with her sixth-inning homer and added a double, one of three for the Gamecocks as well. Seniors Chelsea Hawkins and Ashlyn Masters both homered, while redshirt freshman third baseman Lauren Masters and senior second baseman Dana Hathorn added the other doubles. Junior centerfielder Kristen Struett scored twice while going 1-for-2.
Sophomore left fielder Alaynie Page put the Gamecocks on the board in the second with a two-out single, Struett after she led off the frame with a single. A two-out walk to Yeske advanced Struett into scoring position to set up Page’s run-scoring hit.
Leadoff homers in the third and fourth added to South Carolina’s lead. Ashlyn Masters drove a 2-0 pitch off the back fence of Bogle Park behind the left-field wall for her fourth homer of the year in the third, and Hawkins took a 1-1 offering and sent it over the wall in left center to make it 3-0. The fourth Gamecock run crossed in the fourth as well when Yeske, who doubled with one down, took third on Page’s grounder to short and scored when the throw back to third was high and got into the left-field corner.
Arkansas cut the lead to 4-2 with a two-out, two-RBI single from Clarisa Navarro after they loaded the bases with one out. Hits by Kasey Fagan and Jennifer Rambo put two on base, and a Gamecock throwing error let them both advance into scoring position. The Gamecocks intentionally walked Devon Wallace to load the bases with one out, setting up the force play at home when Stephanie Canfield grounded to first to record the second out of the inning. The inning ended on Navarro’s hit when Struett gunned down the runner trying to take third.
The Gamecocks made it a four-run lead again in the sixth on Yeske’s two-out, two-run homer, scoring Struett after she walked on four pitches to start the inning. But Arkansas closed the gap again with Fagan’s two-out, two-run homer in the sixth, which scored pinch runner Ashlyn Martindale, who replaced Amanda Geile after her leadoff single.
Blue (15-6) mowed down the top of the Razorbacks’ order in the seventh with a grounder and a pop out to second and a liner caught by Yeske at her shoetop to end the game. The freshman scattered seven hits and four earned runs in the win, walking two and striking out three.
The series win is the Gamecocks’ first on the road in SEC play this season. Hawkins and Masters both hit their fourth homers of the season, while Yeske’s ranks as her first. Hawkins blast stands as her 20th of her career, tying her for third in Gamecock history with Tricia Popowski.
Kimmy Beasley (3-6) took the loss for Arkansas, giving up six runs, five earned, on nine hits and four walks while fanning four. Fagan went 3-for-3 with the two-run homer, while Navarro drove in two in a 1-for-4 day.
South Carolina starts an 11-game home stand that will close the regular season on Tuesday when it takes on Winthrop at 6 p.m. at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.
