On Wednesday night at Beckham Field, the Gamecocks (31-6, 6-3 SEC) got back into the win column with a 5-2 victory over Georgia Southern (21-14).
A huge part of the Gamecocks' success this time around was freshman pitcher Kelsey Oh. She did not allow a hit over five and two thirds innings in front of a crowd of 1,409. Oh opened the game striking out the side on nine pitches.
“She pitched great tonight,” head coach Beverly Smith said. “I thought she was in command of her pitches ... she really effectively used her rise-ball tonight for a lot of strike outs.”
Smith added that she had never seen a pitcher throw nine strikes in nine pitches and it was an overall dominant performance from her freshman.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Gamecocks continued their strong start by getting the offense going. Kenzi Maguire started their offensive half with a single, then Mackenzie Boesel walked before Alyssa Vanderveer hit a three-run home run to straight center to give the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead. That was all the offense the Gamecocks needed, but they would tack on two more runs in the fourth.
Maguire doubled home Tiara Duffy and advance to third on an error before Boesel drove in Maguire to give the Gamecocks the comfortable lead.
While VanDerveer got the offense going with her big three-run blast, she gave most of the credit to Oh's strong start in the circle.
“For us, we focus on our pitchers and making a statement in the first inning," Vanderveer said. "I really thought Kelsey did that for us ... Kelsey's has been really good for us, and for her to come out and throw nine straight strikes, I thought was unbelievable.”
Even though the Gamecocks gave up the no-hitter in the fifth, Oh finished the game strong. She only allowed three hits in the entire game and gave up two runs. Rather than focusing on her performance alone, Oh just wanted to help the team claim the win over the Eagles and get back on their winning ways.
“I feel like no hitters are a rarity ... I try to just not think about it and not really focus on it, and just focusing on our hitting and our team,” Oh said.
Oh continues to build on her strong first season, improving to 10-2 on the year. Not only was Oh able to celebrate after her personal improvement for the season, but she also helped give the Gamecocks some momentum to pick up their second straight win after they dropped a tough series to Texas A&M last weekend.
No. 11 South Carolina hosts No. 20 Arkansas this weekend for a three-game series with the series opener set for 6 p.m. on Friday.