Oct. 9, 2015
South Carolina seniorAbigail Pait won her first Most Outstanding Player award of the season on Friday, defeating her Auburn opponent, 72-5-70, in horsemanship.
BLYTHEWOOD, S.C – No. 2 South Carolina dropped its SEC opener, 14-6, to No. 4 Auburn on Friday at One Wood Farm. The Gamecocks are now 2-1 on the season and 0-1 in SEC play, while the Tigers improve to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t deliver the W today to our fans but I am proud of our team for overcoming insurmountable issues to put on a great meet,” South Carolina head coach Boo Major said. “We made some errors in all four events that we’ll need to work on before we go on the road for the remainder of the fall. It’s been a tough week for us but we’ll bounce back. We had a great crowd today which was very much appreciated by all of us.”
Auburn opened the meet by winning 4-of-5 points in reining to take an early 4-1 lead. Senior Sarah Bouchard was the only Gamecock to win her point, as she knocked off her opponent, 70-62.5.
In equitation over fences, the Tigers extended their lead after winning 3-of-5 points. In her competition debut for the Gamecocks, redshirt sophomore Chloe Schmidt won her first point as she beat Auburn’s Hayley Iannotti, 85-82. Freshman Lizzie van der Walde also won her point, improving her record 2-0 this season as she cruised to a 29-point victory over Auburn’s Peyton Smith.
In horsemanship, Carolina won 3-of-5 point over the Tigers, eventually cutting Auburn’s lead to 8-6. Western team captain Abigail Pait earned Most Outstanding Player honors as she defeated Lauren Diaz, 72.5-70 in the first of three straight points for the Gamecocks. Junior Ashley Reichert won her second point in as many meets when she knocked off Auburn’s Griffin Knight, 69-68. Junior Lindsey Slack won her first point of the season on Friday when she beat Tiger rider Ali Fratessa, 71.5-70, cutting Auburn’s lead to just two points.
But the Tigers responded by winning the final six points of the meet, including a 5-0 sweep in equitation on the flat, pulling ahead for the victory.
The Gamecocks return to action on Thursday, Oct. 29 when Carolina travels to College Station, Texas to face Texas A&M.
South Carolina-Auburn Play-by-Play
SC-AUB
0-1 – Blair McFarlin defeats Bridget White, 72-69, on Puzzle.
1-1 – Sarah Bouchard defeats Griffin Knight, 70-62.5, on Skeeto.
1-2 – Allie Disha defeats Paisley Roberts, 68.5-59.5, on Wrangler.
1-3 – Alexa Rivard defeats Bailey Walters, 70.5-70, on Fiona.
1-4 – Hailey Munger defeats Kara Guertin, 74-72.5, on Puffin.
2-4 – Chloe Schmidt defeats Hayley Iannotti, 85-80, on Joe.
2-5 – Caitlin Boyle defeats Sydney Smith, 89-78, on Mango.
2-6 – Ashley Foster defeats Samantha Kraus, 90-86, on Keaton.
2-7 – Elizabeth Benson defeats Samantha Smith, 85-82, on Fina.
3-7 – Lizzie van der Walde defeats Peyton Smith, 84-55, on Batman.
3-8 – Hannah Loseke defeats Bailey Mierzejewski, 71-70.5, on Boomer.
4-8 – Abigail Pait defeats Lauren Diaz, 72.5-70, on Paddy.
5-8 – Ashley Reichert defeats Griffin Knight, 69-68, on Barbie.
6-8 – Lindsey Slack defeats Ali Fratessa, 71.5-70, on Caper.
6-9 – Caitlin Boyle defeats Raleigh Bacharach, 94-74, on Mike.
6-10 – Hannah Stephens defeats Madison Thiel, 74.5-72, on Reggie.
6-11 – Ashley Foster defeats Samantha Smith, 87-83, on Cecil.
6-12 – Tory Hoft defeats Chloe Schmidt, 88-83, on Cody.
6-13 – Hayley Iannotti defeats Samantha Kraus, 83-75, on Toby.
6-14 – Elizabeth Benson defeats Lauren Fabiano, 96-82, on Keaton.
6-14 – Auburn defeats South Carolina.
