First-year coach earns victory over former team
“It was a pitchers’ duel.”
That was what South Carolina softball coach Beverly Smith said of her team’s 1-0 victory over North Carolina, the program she served as an assistant coach for the previous 12 years.
“It was certainly special to be able to see all the kids that I have coached and recruited, so it was great to see them,” Smith said. “But I was really proud of our girls and the way they came out and played the game. Our pitchers threw a great game, and we faced a tough pitcher.”
Right-hander Lori Spingola worked five innings for the Tar Heels and kept the Gamecock bats quiet and searching for answers.
In the sixth, however, outfielder Laura Mendes came up with the hit Carolina was looking for. On a 2-0 pitch, the senior drilled one over the wall in right-center field, giving the Gamecocks the only run they’d need.
“Either we were going to have to string a couple of hits together or come up with one big one,” Smith said. “Laura Mendes did that, which was exactly what we needed.”
The home run was Mendes’s fourth of the season and was the highlight of her 2-3 performance at the plate.
“I was thinking, I just need to get a pitch to just drive,” Mendes said. “Me and [assistant coach Calvin Beamon] have really been working hard on getting ahead in the count, so I felt like I did do that, and I felt good about where I was in the at-bat. I just kept my head down, hands through it and took it yard.”
On the other side of the ball, sophomore Audrey Broyles provided a strong performance, pitching five innings while allowing just one hit and striking out three. Senior April Borchardt relieved her in the sixth and proceeded to allow one hit as well over the final two innings en route to earning her fifth win of the season.
“Audrey and April pretty much closed them out,” Mendes said. “UNC didn’t have any hits pretty much until late in the game, but overall, defense is looking pretty good.”
Bouncing back from a six-game losing streak with back-to-back wins, Smith is confident that the Gamecocks will continue improving as they prepare for a pair of Saturday matchups with Longwood.
“Right now, we’re playing great defense, we’re pitching well and we’re getting the hits when we need it,” Smith said. “We’re building on every game.”