No. 11/10 Gamecocks Drop First Game of the Season to No. 2/1 Sooners

NORMAN, Okla. – A 7th inning comeback came up just short for the No. 11/10 South Carolina softball team (20-1, 0-1), as the Gamecocks fell in their SEC opener to No. 2/1 Oklahoma (20-0, 1-0) Friday night (Mar. 7) 10-9.

Lexi Winters led Carolina at the dish going 3-for-3 with five RBIs and two runs score. Karley Shelton drove in a pair of runs.

After the Sooners took the lead in the bottom of the first, the Gamecocks rallied with five runs in the second. Three consecutive singles from Ella Chancey, Brooke Blankenship, and Winters brought home a run. An Oklahoma error added another before a wild pitch brought home Abigail Knight. Shelton capped off the inning with a two-run single.

The Sooners would score two in the second and third in the third on a pair of home runs.

South Carolina tied it in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Winters. OU responded with another home run to re-take the lead. They added two more on a home run in the sixth with two outs.

The Gamecocks rallied in the seventh, drawing a hit by pitch and a walk to bring Winters to the plate. Down 1-2 in the count, she connected on her fifth home run of the season, to bring the deficit to one. Carolina was unable to get another runner on base as the next three batters were retired.

Jori Heard (10-1) took the loss in relief, throwing four innings and allowing four runs on six hits and striking out four. Sam Gress started for Carolina, as she allowed six runs on six hits in two innings of work.

Carolina’s 20-game winning streak to start the season tied a program record from 1976. The nine runs allowed by the Sooners are the most this season for a pitching staff that entered the series second in the nation in ERA.

The Gamecocks and Sooners close out the series with a doubleheader Sunday beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.

For the latest on South Carolina Softball, visit GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter @GamecockSoftbll, Facebook /GamecockSoftball, and Instagram @GamecockSoftball.