Gamecocks break single season home run record
The South Carolina softball team was swept in a weekend series against No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa Friday through Sunday.
On Friday, the Gamecocks lost 9-1 in five innings. Junior Samie Garcia hit her seventh homer of the season. Garcia is tied for 10th in a single season at South Carolina. Senior Kaitlin Westfall and sophomore Dana Hathorn added hits for the Gamecocks. The Crimson Tide rebounded, scoring two runs in the first. Alabama made plays off South Carolina’s four errors in five innings.
Jackie Traina (24-0) secured the win for the Crimson Tide and gave up only four hits and one run. Senior Kierstyn White (6-8) allowed seven runs, eight hits and a walk in two innings.
Head coach Beverly Smith was proud of her team, saying the ladies played well against one of the best teams in the country.
“Alabama has excellent pitching, but we competed the way we wanted,” Smith said of the series.
The Gamecocks came to battle on Saturday. For the second-straight day, they opened up the game with a 1-0 lead. Redshirt senior Kaela Jackson hit her second homer of the season in the second inning to give the Gamecocks a lead. Alabama rallied in the third inning, going up 4-1.
South Carolina answered Alabama’s rally by taking the lead in the fourth with a four-run inning. An error by the Alabama second baseman let senior Evan Childs score to tie the game during the Gamecocks fourth inning run. Senior Jackie Slawson tacked on another run to take the lead when senior Lauren Lackey’s hit into shallow left.
The Gamecocks held the lead until the sixth inning. Alabama loaded the bases without a hit. Junior Audrey Broyles walked Tide second baseman Danae Hays to tie the game.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Cassie Riley-Boccia of Alabama won the game for the Crimson Tide with a two-run homer. Traina (25-0) got the win in relief. Broyles (7-7) allowed seven runs and seven walks, while striking out three in her loss.
“We had an opportunity to grab an upset,” Smith said of Friday’s and Saturday’s games. “It was an unbelievable environment with a record crowd.”
Alabama’s Rhoads Stadium saw 3,940 people in attendance — a record high — for Saturday’s game.
The South Carolina Gamecocks broke the single-season home run record in Sunday’s five-inning loss to Alabama, 19-4. Sophomore Chelsea Hawkins hit the 39th home run of the year for the Gamecocks. The 2012 team, with nine games remaining, passed the 2003 team that had 38 home runs in 61 games.
Traina (26-0) got her third win in the weekend series for the Tide, giving up four earned runs on five hits and three walks while striking out eight in four innings. Freshman Katelynn Howser (8-7) had the loss.
The South Carolina Gamecocks will host the No. 10 Tennessee Volunteers in a three-game series starting Friday at Beckham Field.
“There is no easy game in the conference,” Smith said. “Tennessee has a good pitching staff and hitters, but we are prepared.”