Gamecocks Sweep Coastal Carolina To Open Home Season

COLUMBIA, S.C. —- No. 18 South Carolina softball swept a pair of games over Coastal Carolina on Wednesday night during the 2021 home opener at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. The Gamecocks run-ruled the Chanticleers 8-0 in six innings in the opener before closing the day with a 10-0 run-rule in five innings.
 
Leah Powell (1-0) and Rachel Vaughan (1-0) earned the wins in the circle for Carolina with both tossing complete-game shutouts. The duo held Coastal to a .108 batting average with just four hits allowed and four strikeouts. Powell and Vaughan combined to allow only one walk in 11 innings of work. The outing was Powell’s Carolina debut.
 
Mackenzie Boesel shined at the plate, going a combined 4-for-4 between the two games with three RBI and three walks. Kenzi Maguire was just as productive, posting a 2-for-3 day in the doubleheader with three free bases and three RBI. The duo combined to score eight of Carolina’s 18 runs.
 
Of South Carolina’s 14 hits on the afternoon, seven went for extra bases.
 
“Honestly, I think (pitching depth) is one of our strengths this year,” head coach Beverly Smith said. “If you’re looking at our schedule, you’re seeing more doubleheaders. We’ve got five games this weekend in our home tournament and I just think having depth in the bullpen is going to be a great value to us.”
 
SOUTH CAROLINA 8 | COASTAL CAROLINA 0 (6) – RECAP
South Carolina (4-1, 0-0 SEC) posted a six-inning shutout behind Leah Powell’s complete-game outing in her Carolina debut as the Gamecocks run-ruled Coastal Carolina, 8-0, in the opening game.
 
Powell was sharp from the first pitch, allowing just one hit with two strikeouts and no walks. She completed the game with just 64 pitches thrown.
 
The Garnet and Black posted six runs over the course of the final two innings thanks in part to Mackenzie Boesel, Kenzi Maguire and Aaliyah White hits. Carolina finished the game with eight hits, five of which went for extra bases.
 
Boesel and Maguire shined at the plate as both posted two-hit performances. Maguire finished with two RBI while Boesel had one.
 
As a team, South Carolina finished with three triples, one shy of the school record for a single game.
 
SOUTH CAROLINA 10 | COASTAL CAROLINA 0 (5) – RECAP
Rachel Vaughan continued Carolina’s streak of complete-game performances in South Carolina’s 10-0 run-rule victory in five innings in the second game against Coastal Carolina. The Gamecocks were dominant from the start, scoring nine runs in the first two innings on their way to their third shutout of the year.
 
Vaughan was stellar, herself, going 5.0 innings in the circle with just one walk, three hits and two strikeouts while holding the Chanticleers to a .167 batting average.
 
Mackenzie Boesel once again produced at the plate, going 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBI. Jordan Fabian notably blasted a three-run home run, her first of the year, on her way to a 1-for-3 game.
 
Kenzi Maguire, Katie Prebble, Kassidy Krupit and Maddie Gallagher also had RBI in the game.
 
NOTABLE

• South Carolina has played in five games this year and started five different pitchers (Bailey Betenbaugh, Leah Powell, Rachel Vaughan, Karsen Ochs and Kelsey Oh). Each of the five has tossed a complete game in their outing with three (Powell, Vaughan and Betenbaugh) throwing complete-game shutouts.
• Mackenzie Boesel is off to a great start at the plate. She’s hitting .692 thus far on nine hits with seven RBI.
• Kassidy Krupit is bringing the runs home, too. She has a Carolina best nine RBI through five games.
• As a group, Carolina’s pitchers have combined for a 0.68 ERA with 16 strikeouts and just five walks in 32 innings of action.
• The Gamecocks are now 337-22 in 11 seasons under the leadership of head coach Beverly Smith.