Gamecocks Tie School Record In Series Finale Loss
Carolina ties school record for home runs in a year (65)
COLUMBIA, S.C. —- No. 14 South Carolina softball tied the school record for home runs in a season in heartbreaking 3-2 loss to No. 15 Georgia on Sunday at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. Lauren Stewart broke up the Bulldog no-hit bid in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run off the foul pole in left to give the Gamecocks No. 65 on the year.
Senior Kennedy Clark was recognized pregame on her senior day and tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out triple before Georgia scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh to secure the series win.
The loss snapped a notable SEC streak for Carolina as the Gamecocks had taken the past seven conference sets after winning the Friday night game dating back to a 2017 match up against the Bulldogs.
Carolina dropped to 13-10 in rubber match games since 2011.
South Carolina (35-14, 8-12 SEC) fought back the entire game as Georgia took the lead in the top of the third with two unearned runs on two Carolina errors to post a 2-0 lead through four.
With UGA’s starting pitcher, Kylie Bass, tossing a no-hitter heading to the bottom of the fifth Stewart stepped to the plate and blasted a one-out homer to cut the deficit to 2-1 through five innings.
The next inning, Clark sent a ball to the gap in right center to score a runner from first and tie the game at 2-2.
Georgia scored a run in the seventh for the second-straight day to take the 3-2 win and earn the series victory.
Kelsey Oh (4-5) took the loss in the circle in an inning of action with one run on one hit. Cayla Drotar earned the start and went six innings with four hits and two runs, both of which were unearned.
