The Daily Gamecock

South Carolina prepares for UNC-Charlotte after successful weekend

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The South Carolina softball team improved to 15-5 for the season after a powerful weekend of multiple homeruns, shutout performances and strong defense.

The Gamecocks hosted the Carolina Classic this past weekend, and began their play Friday afternoon against Charleston Southern.

Nine of the players had hits, five drove in runs and seven scored in the Gamecocks 10-3 win over the Buccaneers.

They continued play on Saturday against Marshall, where sophomore Nickie Blue pitched a two-hit shutout in the team’s 2-0 win. Blue also recorded a career-best 12 strikeouts in the win, while juniors Alaynie Page and Jordan Bizzell helped with the offense.

Page tripled in the first and scored on a wild pitch, while Bizzell hit a solo-shot to left field in the fourth to give the Gamecocks their two runs.

The Gamecocks played two games on Sunday, but had a rough start in the first game, falling to South Alabama 4-1. After allowing three unearned runs in the first to the Jaguars, the Gamecocks had trouble coming back.

But somewhere in between the two games, the Gamecocks got their momentum back and dominated Tennessee State 8-0 in five innings.

Bizzell got the ball rolling in the first with a huge three-run homer, which was the first of a few big surges for the Gamecocks.

They had a big fourth inning, where both Victoria Williams and Page had two-run homers, extending their lead to 7-0.

In the fifth, freshman Caroline Cash reached first on a Tennessee State throwing error, which put her in scoring position for Page. Page doubled to center, scoring Cash and ending the game there.

Head coach Beverly Smith was impressed with the team’s performance over the course of the games.

“The biggest success from the weekend was our pitching,” Smith said. “Nickie Blue and Julie Sarratt did an awesome job on the mound and kept us in every ballgame. We had really solid defense.”

South Carolina played very strong defense all weekend, with both Blue and senior Julie Sarratt pitching two-hit shutout games.

They also had good defensive plays behind them, including ten ground ball outs on game two Sunday and great catches and plays throughout the games. They made big offensive plays as well, totaling 30 hits and 21 runs during the tournament. cq-cm-mk 

The Gamecocks had an especially strong offensive day versus Tennessee State with three home runs, two of which came in the same inning.

Outfielder Page shared the team's goal to finish strong throughout the rigorous game schedule.

“I think the positive that came from this weekend is our offense,” Page said. “It showed that we can do anything when we set our minds to it. It’s just getting us going and getting that one hit that we need. That showed this weekend, but we can still get better at it.”

South Carolina will host the University of North Carolina, Charlotte on Tuesday afternoon, and is ready for what should be a good competition.

Currently 7-4 on the season, Charlotte is always a good and aggressive team, but won’t be a problem to compete against in the next game, according to Page.

“I think we have every opportunity to win this game,” Page said. “And if we do Gamecock softball and show Charlotte what we’re about, it will be good for us.”


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