South Carolina Takes Down SIU In Five Innings
Gamecocks move to 3-0 thanks to nine-run second inning
COLUMBIA, S.C. —- No. 19 South Carolina softball’s Kelsey Oh took a no-hit bid to the fifth inning during a commanding 11-1 win in five innings over Southern Illinois on Saturday at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. Carolina scored nine runs on 10 hits in the bottom of the second to move to 3-0 on the young season.
As a team South Carolina posted 12 hits and nine RBI with 24 hitters sent to the plate as Oh (2-0) recorded her 14th strikeout of the season in 11 innings of action.
Mackenzie Boesel, Jana Johns and Madison Owens led the way at the plate with two RBI each. Kenzi Maguire, Kassidy Krupit and Haley Simpson each had an RBI, as well.
The scoring started in the second with Krupit’s RBI single to score Katie Prebble and give the Gamecocks a 1-0 advantage. From there, six of the next seven at-bats produced hits as Carolina went on to hold a 9-0 lead through two innings of action.
Boesel continued the scoring in the bottom of the third with an RBI triple to push the lead to 10-0 before another run in the frame made it 11-0 South Carolina through three.
From there, the teams traded a scoreless fourth before SIU started the fifth with its first hit of the game before Oh exited the game to a standing ovation.
Karsen Ochs, in her Carolina debut, closed out the game as the Gamecocks took down SIU with an 11-1 win. The fifth inning was highlighted with Lauren Stewart’s running catch at the wall in centerfield with bases loaded to record the final out.
Boesel and Stewart went 2-for-3 while Prebble finished the day 2-for-2.
UP NEXT
Carolina returns to action for the final day of the Carolina Classic with a 3:00 PM first pitch against UNCG on SEC Network+. An audio only call and live stats will be on gamecocksonline.com, as well.
