March 1, 2015
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (14-5) allowed three unearned runs in the first, letting No. 24/24 South Alabama (15-3) take a 4-1 win in the Gamecocks’ first game on Sunday in the Carolina Classic at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.
The Jaguars staked out a 3-0 lead in the first half inning. Emily Messer reached on a Gamecock error to start the game, and after a foul out, Stephanie Pilkington singled to left to put two on. Chloe Rathburn doubled home Messer, and Pilkington scored on a RBI groundout. Kaitlyn Griffith drove home the third run of the inning with a single to right.
Gamecock junior left fielder Alaynie Page tripled to start the bottom half of the first, and senior centerfielder Kristen Struett plated her with a single, drawing South Carolina within two.
But South Alabama took control from there, collecting 11 hits overall and a fourth run in the sixth on Messer’s bases-loaded single lined off the Gamecock shortstop’s glove. The Jaguars were limited to only one run the rest of the way thanks to two Gamecock double plays, one by junior third baseman Jordan Bizzell in the sixth when she touched third then threw home, letting senior catcher Sarah Mooney tag the lead runner.
Jaguar starter Devin Brown (7-2) picked up the win with 4.1 innings of work. She struck out eight, gave up three hits and walked two. Kalen McGill picked up her first career save with 2.2 innings of hitless relief. She fanned four. Gamecock sophomore Nickie Blue (8-2) took the loss, allowing eight hits and three runs, none earned, in five innings. Blue walked one and struck out six in her five innings.
Game Changer:
Brown’s rise ball and McGill’s drop ball combination kept the Gamecock hitters off balance and off the scoreboard after the first inning.
Key Stat:
Twelve of the 21 outs collected by the Jaguars came on strikeouts.
Notables:
• Page went 2-for-3 with the run and the triple, while Struett reached base three times on a hit, a walk and a hit by pitch.
• Rathburn and Alyssa Linn both went 2-for-3 with a double for the Jaguars.
• Pilkington went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
• Eight of the nine Jaguar batters collected a hit.
