March 18, 2017
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina fell behind early and never got going until it was too late, falling to No. 2/1 Florida 13-1 in five innings on Saturday afternoon at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.
Florida (25-1, 4-0 SEC) tallied five in the first on Kayli Kvistad’s two-RBI single, Chelsea Herndon’s bases-loaded walk and Justine McLean’s RBI single that allowed two runs to score. The Gators were quiet for the next two innings, helped by a double play turned by the Gamecocks’ infield, before posting more in the fourth on Nicole DeWitt’s three-run blast. The Gators tacked on five more in the fifth on DeWitt’s bases-loaded grounder, Amanda Lorenz’s two-run triple and Kvistad’s round-tripper that scored Lorenz as well.
South Carolina (19-9, 1-4 SEC) had runners reach in the second on junior Krystan White’s leadoff walk and in the third on a Gator error, but Florida took both off the bases, using a double play in the second and a caught stealing in the third to end the frames.
The Gamecocks broke through with two down in the fifth against Kelly Barnhill, as senior Victoria Williams slashed a single up the middle. Duffy followed with a double, scoring junior pinch runner Lauren Stewart from second after a passed ball put the runner in scoring position. Barnhill collected herself and posted her ninth strikeout to end the contest.
Barnhill (10-0) allowed two hits, one walk and one unearned run. Gamecock senior Jessica Elliott (8-4) took the loss, giving up eight runs, seven earned, on five hits and five walks in three-plus innings.
Game Changer
Back-to-back walks in the first pushed the Gamecocks, and Florida took advantage with the five-run frame.
Key Stat
The Gamecocks committed two errors in the game and now are 3-4 when committing that many misplays.
NOTABLES
Sophia Reynoso and Kvistad both had two hits for the Gators and scored twice, while both Kvistad and DeWitt had four RBI.
DeWitt also scored three times. Lorenz and McLean joined Reynoso and Kvistad with two runs scored each.
Senior Kaylea Snaer saw her 24-game reached-base streak snapped in the loss.
Up Next
The teams wrap up the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.
