Softball . May 11, 2018

Gamecocks Advance To SEC Championship With Win

Game #1

May 11, 2018

COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 12 South Carolina broke the school record for home runs in a season on its way to a 3-1 win over No. 19 Arkansas in the first semifinal game of the SEC Softball Tournament at Mizzou Stadium on Friday. Tiara Duffy blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth as the Gamecocks fought their way to their first SEC Tournament Championship appearance since 2001.

The Gamecocks never trailed as Dixie Raley posted one of her finer performances of her Carolina career. Raley went all seven innings, allowing just one run on five hits with seven strikeouts.

South Carolina (45-13) knew what a win today would mean, and delivered early. After the teams traded a scoreless first inning, Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second thanks to Kenzi Maguire‘s RBI single to score Krystan White.

Duffy continued the scoring in a big way two innings later with a two-run home run to score Jana Johns and extend the lead to 3-0 over the Razorbacks.

Arkansas made a comeback effort in the top of the sixth with a run of its own, but Raley retired the final five batters to punch Carolina’s ticket to the championship game.

Carolina finished the day with seven hits from seven different batters.

Notes

With today’s win, Carolina moved to 45-13 on the year. Carolina remained undefeated in neutral site games with the victory.
Jana Johns drew two hit by pitches in today’s win over the Bulldogs. It was notable because she now has 27 on the year, which broke the school record for most in a season. She is now tied for fifth for most in a career at Carolina, and now has the fifth most in a season for any SEC player.
With Tiara Duffy‘s home run, the Gamecocks now have 61 on the year, which is the most in school history for home runs in a season.
Carolina improved to 20-20 in the SEC Tournament, and is now 5-5 under head coach Beverly Smith.

Up Next

No. 12 South Carolina awaits the winner of the Tennessee and Florida game for tomorrow’s tournament championship game at 8:00 PM ET on ESPN2. Fans can also catch the game on the SEC Radio Channel on Sirius XM while live stats will be on social media.