Gamecocks Drop Opener To Kentucky
Two teams agree to play two games tomorrow to avoid weather on Sunday
LEXINGTON, KY. —- South Carolina softball scored three runs in the top of the seventh in a 4-3 loss to No. 18 Kentucky on Friday night at John Cropp Stadium. Facing a 4-0 deficit heading into the final frame, Chooch Carroll’s two-run home run and Mackenzie Boesel’s double put the Gamecocks on the board before Kentucky’s Autumn Humes finished her complete-game performance in the circle.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak in SEC series openers, Carolina’s longest streak since 2013.
Due to anticipated weather forecasts on Sunday in the Lexington area, the two teams have mutually agreed to play two games on Saturday starting at 2:00 p.m. ET with the second game scheduled to start 30 minutes after the conclusion of that contest. Both games will still stream on SEC Network+ with live stats provided through gamecocksoline.com. The two squads played through a 33-minute rain delay in the top of the fifth in Friday’s game.
The Wildcats started the scoring effort in the second with a run before adding three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-0 lead.
Trailing 4-0 heading to the seventh, the South Carolina offense didn’t give in easily. Zoe Laneaux started the frame with a walk before Carroll’s two-run home run fresh off the bench two batters later cut the deficit to 4-2 with one out. Kenzi Maguire kept the inning going with a single before Boesel’s double scored her from first to cut the Wildcat lead to 4-3. Two ground outs finished off the Kentucky win.
Maguire, Katie Prebble and Kylee Gleason posted two-hit performances. Boesel, Cayla Drotar and Carroll rounded out the nine South Carolina hits.
Leah Powell (9-5) took the loss in the circle. She went 2.1 with four runs on seven hits allowed.
