Gamecocks Open Arkansas Series With Win
April 6, 2018
COLUMBIA, S.C. –No. 11 South Carolina softball opened its three-game series against No. 20 Arkansas with a 2-1 victory on Friday night at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. Cayla Drotar went the distance in the circle, allowing consecutive hits just twice on her way to her fourteenth victory of the season.
After both teams traded scoreless frames through three, freshman Jana Johns opened up the scoring in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out double to score Jordyn Augustus and give the Gamecocks a 1-0 lead.
Kenzi Maguire later singled in the bottom of the fifth to score Kennedy Clark and give the Gamecocks breathing room with a 2-0 lead.
Drotar (14-2) never backed down against one of the better hitting teams in the conference, allowing just four hits through six innings to shut the Razorback offense down. She finished the night with just seven hits allowed and two strikeouts.
“Jana’s hit was clutch,” head coach Beverly Smith said. “That was the run that put us on the board. I even wrote on my scorecard, ‘clutch.’ She just battled and got a run for us.”
South Carolina (32-6, 7-3 SEC) knew it was in for a battle with No. 20 Arkansas coming to town fresh off its first conference sweep since 2013.
The Razorbacks (28-7, 5-5) looked primed to take an early lead in the top of the second after back-to-back hits made it runners on second and third with two outs before Drotar picked up the inning-ending strikeout to hold Arkansas scoreless.
Arkansas had another prime scoring chance in the fourth with a two-out triple before Drotar again got out of the inning with a scoreless frame thanks to a groundout to short.
Johns made the Razorbacks pay in the bottom frame, doubling with two outs to score Augustus from third to take a 1-0 lead.
Maguire couldn’t have asked for a much better time for her first hit of the night as she came through with a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth to make it 2-0 Gamecocks.
Arkansas tried to make things interesting in the seventh, scoring a run with two outs before Drotar got a groundout to second to hold the runners at first and second and give the Gamecocks a 2-1 win to open the series.
Johns and Maguire led the way at the plate, with both going 1-for-3 with an RBI. Mackenzie Boesel and Drotar also finished the night 1-for-3 while Kennedy Clark went 1-for-2 with a run scored.
Notes
- With tonight’s win, Carolina moved to 32-6 (7-3 SEC) on the year. Carolina is 17-0 at home on the year, and is the final remaining undefeated team at home in the SEC.
- With the win tonight, Carolina can seal the series victory against Arkansas on Sunday with a win. This would be the Gamecocks’ third SEC series win of the year, with all three coming over ranked opponents. This would be the first time Carolina has ever won three SEC series against ranked opponents.
- Carolina is now just two wins away from tying last season’s total (34). With a win on Sunday, the Gamecocks would match last seasons victory mark in conference play (eight wins).
- Head coach Beverly Smith moved to 259-184 after Sunday’s game. She is the second-winningest coach in school history.
Up Next
No. 11 South Carolina concludes the three-game set with a doubleheader against No. 20 Arkansas starting at 1:00 PM ET on Sunday. Both games will be on SEC Network Plus while live stats will be on gamecocksonline.com.
