April 22, 2014
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina Gamecocks (31-17), behind junior Sarah Mooney’s strong offensive performance, captured a 3-1 win over Georgia Southern (30-16) on Tuesday evening at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.
South Carolina captured the lead in the third on the designated player Mooney’s 10th homer of the season, a towering two-run shot that cleared the wall in left. Senior right fielder Chelsea Hawkins drew a walk before the round-tripper. Mooney becomes the fourth Gamecock in history with 10 or more homers in a season, one shy of the single-season record.
The Gamecocks used Mooney’s bloop single to right to take a 1-0 lead in the first. Redshirt freshman third baseman Lauren Masters drew a walk with one down, and Hawkins looked to have a home run, but the ruling was the ball hit the top of the wall and came back into play, giving Hawkins a double.
The Eagles answered in the second. Morgan Robinson singled to start the frame and took second on an errant Gamecock throw on a sacrifice bunt attempt. A successful sacrifice moved both runners into scoring position, setting up AJ Hamilton’s sacrifice fly that Hawkins caught on the run in the gap.
Gamecock redshirt junior Julie Sarratt (15-10) picked up the victory with five innings of work, giving up one unearned run on three hits and a walk. She struck out one. Freshman Nickie Blue came on and tossed two innings for her sixth save, only allowing one infield single. Sarah Purvis (16-10) took the loss for Georgia Southern, giving up three earned runs on five hits and four walks in six innings. She struck out six.
Mooney and Hawkins both had two hits in the win with Mooney driving home all three Gamecock runs. Junior centerfielder Kristen Struett had the other South Carolina hit. Taylor Rogers had two of the Eagles’ four hits.
Prior to the game, athletics director Ray Tanner along with Gamecock head coach Beverly Smith and longtime fans and softball supporters David and Mitzi Beckham participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate the newest softball facility in the Southeastern Conference. David threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Gamecock junior catcher Olivia Lawrence.
The Gamecocks host South Carolina State on Wednesday at 6 p.m., the first meeting in history between the two programs.
