Gamecocks Blast Three Home Runs In Win Over CSU
May 2, 2018
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 12 South Carolina softball used two Mackenzie Boesel home runs and three or more runs in every inning to roll to a 14-0 win in five innings over Charleston Southern on Wednesday night at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. This marks Boesel’s first multi-homer game of the year and her grand slam in the bottom of the third was her second-career grand slam.
As great as the offense was Dixie Raley (11-4) was equally strong in the circle, allowing just one hit with 10 strikeouts. This is the second time this season Raley has pitched 10 or more strikeouts in a game.
With the win, the Gamecocks improved their second-longest winning streak of the season to eight games, which is the longest current streak in the SEC.
In total, the Gamecocks finished with 11 hits off the bats of six different batters and blasted three home runs.
South Carolina (42-11, 14-7 SEC) couldn’t have asked for a much better start, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first sparked with Boesel’s first deep shot of the night.
The scoring continued in the second with four more runs, as Alyssa VanDerveer blasted a three-run homer to give the Gamecocks a 7-0 lead through two.
The Gamecocks posted four more runs in the third thanks to Boesel’s second-career grand slam to make it 11-0 Carolina through three.
The Gamecocks scored three more runs in the fourth before Raley posted a zero in the top of the fifth to give the Gamecocks the run-rule victory.
Notes
- With tonight’s win, Carolina moved to 42-11 (14-7 SEC) on the year. The 42 wins is the most in the Beverly Smith era, as are the 14 conference wins. Carolina has now earned 40 or wins in a season for the first time since 2003 with three games left in the regular season.
- Feel like the Gamecocks were walking all over the park? Well, they were. Carolina showed great eyes as the team drew a season-high nine walks in the game.
- Mackenzie Boesel had a night for the season, posting a Carolina-high eight RBI and posted the Gamecocks second multi-homer game of the year.
- With tonight’s victory, the Gamecocks have won eight-consecutive games. This is Carolina’s longest winning streak since winning 17-straight earlier this year. During the stretch the Gamecocks are outscoring teams 59-16 with a .348 batting average and .432 on-base percentage.
Up Next
No. 12 South Carolina hits the road for the final three games of the season with a three-game set against No. 20 Kentucky set to start Friday on SEC Network Plus at 7:00 PM ET. Live stats for all three games will be on gamecocksonline.com.
