April 12, 2015
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Behind back-to-back fourth-inning home runs from sophomores Victoria Williams and Kaylea Snaer, South Carolina (29-16) picked up an 8-3 victory over Arkansas (15-27, 1-14 SEC) on Sunday afternoon at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.
The Gamecocks posted a five-run fourth to take the lead for good. With one out, junior left fielder Alaynie Page walked and senior centerfielder Kristen Struett singled on a hard-hit ball off the Arkansas’ third baseman, bringing up Williams. She launched the 2-1 offering from Razorback reliever Haley Meinen (1-7) over the wall in right to put the Gamecocks on top 5-3. Arkansas brought in Allison Stewart, and her seventh pitch to Snaer landed over the left field wall for Snaer’s sixth homer of the year.
Later in the fourth, junior third baseman Jordan Bizzell got hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on redshirt sophomore Lauren Masters’ RBI single to make it 7-3. One more Gamecock run crossed the plate in the sixth, as senior catcher Sarah Mooney scored freshman pinch runner Kamryn Watts on a sacrifice fly to left.
South Carolina claimed an early 2-0 lead on a bases-loaded walk to Mooney and a sacrifice fly to Bizzell. Arkansas tied it in the third on Tori Cooper’s first career home run, a two-run shot to right center. The Razorbacks briefly held a 3-2 lead after Claire Clark doubled home Megan Pearson in the top of the fourth.
Gamecock redshirt senior Julie Sarratt (15-8) gained the victory with four innings of work, giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits and two walks. Sophomore Nickie Blue tallied her fourth save with three innings out of the bullpen, giving up two hits and striking out three. Meinin took the loss, allowing three earned runs on two hits and a walk in one-third of an inning.
Game Changer:
Williams’ shot off the light pole in right center swung all the momentum back to South Carolina.
Key Stat:
The top three hitters in South Carolina’s lineup, Page, Struett and Williams, combined to go 8-for-11 with five runs scored.
Notables:
• Page went 3-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored. Those two runs give Page 13th alone in Gamecock history, surpassing Jodi Fittro (2000-03).
• Struett posted a double in a 2-for-4 day, scoring twice.
• Williams went 3-for-4 with the three-run homer, her fourth of the year.
• The back-to-back home runs for Williams and Snaer are the first for South Carolina since Snaer and Olivia Lawrence hit two vs. Liberty on March 5.
• Mooney walked twice and drove in two runs in the game.
• Bizzell’s sixth-inning triple is the first in her career.
• Arkansas’ Clark and Stephanie Canfield both had two hits in the loss.
Tweet of the Game:
#SCtop10 catch by Kristen Struett in the top of the 7th!!!! @SportsCenter @GamecockSoftbll
— Austin Solheim (@ajsolheim) April 12, 2015
Quotable:
Head coach Beverly Smith
All wins are important in the SEC, so I’m happy that we were able to get these. Our goal is to be playing our best ball at the end of the season. We’ve got great games in front of us, so I hope our team will take the confidence rolling into our road games next week.
On the back-to-back home runs:
The back-to-back home runs were excellent. (Victoria’s) been swinging the bat very well. She did a great job being aggressive and getting a good pitch. Being able to go back-to-back with Kaylea changes the momentum of the game.
Sophomore offensive player Victoria Williams
We knew going into the game that it was going to be a battle. We knew we were going to have to fight to win each inning. I wanted to go up there and do something productive with my at-bat.
On the home run:
As soon as it came off the bat, I knew it was gone. She’d been pitching me low and in, so I knew I was going to go down and get it.
On Coach Smith coming to the plate to greet her after the home run:
I like to give chest bumps to people. It just makes people happy. I always try to get her to chest bump me, but she never would. She said only if I hit a home run would she meet me at home plate and give me a chest bump. Today was the first day since we made the deal that I hit one. I loved it; I told her it was the highlight of my weekend.
Up Next:
South Carolina faces in-state rival Coastal Carolina on Tuesday evening at 5 p.m. in Conway, S.C.
