Carolina Closes Week With Win Over MTSU

CLEARWATER, Fla. —- No. 13 South Carolina softball closed out an undefeated weekend in Florida with a 6-4 win over Middle Tennessee State on Sunday in the final game of the USF Tournament.
 
The Blue Raiders (11-10) took all the early momentum with three runs in the first but couldn’t capitalize on the lead as the Gamecocks extended their season-high winning streak to 14 games. 
 
With the victory, Carolina closed the weekend 5-0 while outscoring teams 46-10 with 10 home runs and 22 extra-base hits. 
 
South Carolina (17-2) didn’t panic after MTSU pushed across three runs in the first as Jana Johns brought home Kenzi Maguire to make it 3-1 after one. 
 
The Gamecocks’ offense came alive in the second with four runs as Jordan Fabian kicked off the scoring with her first-career RBI thanks to a single to left. Madison Owens tied the game at 3-3 two batters later as she single up the middle. 
 
Mackenzie Boesel later brought home two more runs with a two-out single to give South Carolina its first lead of the morning at 5-3. 
 
Middle Tennessee State made things interesting with a run in the fourth before Owens tripled and scored on a throwing error in the sixth to give the Gamecocks breathing room heading into the seventh with a 6-4 lead. 
 
The Blue Raiders got the go-ahead run to the plate in the seventh before Dixie Raley earned her first save of the season with a strikeout looking. 
 
Cayla Drotar (6-1) earned the victory in the circle going two innings with just two hits. 
 
Boesel led the way at the plate for the Gamecocks going 1-for-3 with two RBI. 
 
NOTES: 

• Kennedy Clark might come from California, but she seemed to be right at home in Florida. A senior, she posted a team-best .529 batting average at the tournament with nine hits and seven RBI. 
• The Carolina pitching shined in the five wins in Florida this weekend, as well. Dixie Raley, Karly Heath, Cayla Drotar and Rachel Vaughan combined for a 1.97 ERA with 25 strikeouts. 
• Speaking of pitching, Dixie Raley was dominate at the tournament. She finished with a 1-0 record and 0.58 ERA in 12 innings of work as she struck out 12 batters and held opposing hitters to a low .150 batting average. 
• The Gamecocks improved to 295-198 under head coach Beverly Smith with the victory on Sunday.