Gamecocks Drop Game To Top Ranked Washington

CLEARWATER, Fla. —- No. 18 South Carolina softball dropped a 5-4 game to No. 1 Washington in its fourth game of the 2020 St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational on Saturday at the Eddie C. Moore Complex (Field 9). The Gamecocks used a four-run fifth to take their first lead of the night, but it wasn’t enough as the Huskies responded with three runs in the sixth to seal the win.
 
Facing a no-hitter heading into the fifth and a 2-0 Huskie lead, Carolina came alive with Mackenzie Boesel’s one-out single. The next at-bat, Jana Johns’ triple down the line in right to cut the deficit to 2-1 with a runner on third and one out.
 
Kassidy Krupit kept the energy going with the third-straight hit, a single, to tie the game a 2-2 with a runner on first and one out. A Lauren Stewart single set up pinch hitter Hannah Kumiyama’s two-RBI single, the fourth-consecutive hit after 4.1 innings of no hits, that gave Carolina a 4-2 lead heading to the bottom of the fifth.
 
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, the lights on the field went out as Kenzi Maguire fielded a ball up the middle and stepped on second to complete the force out to end the inning. Washington continued the game under protest from that point forward.
 
The Huskies eventually scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the 5-4 lead they wouldn’t surrender.
 
Kelsey Oh (4-2) took the loss in the circle.
 
Kumiyama had a team-best two RBI while Johns and Krupit had RBI of their own.
 
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks close out the 2020 St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational on Sunday against James Madison at 12:30 PM on ESPN3. Live stats will be on gamecocksonline.com.
 
For more information on the Gamecocks, continue to check with gamecocksonline.com.