Gamecocks take series after Childs’ home run in Game 3
The South Carolina softball team ended its spring break with a bang, as it opened SEC conference play over the weekend against Arkansas. After splitting the first two games, the Gamecocks (18-7, 2-1) won the rubber match and the series on a walk-off home run by senior Evan Childs.
“Gosh, it was so nice to be home, back at Beckham,” said head coach Beverly Smith. “We practiced the next day after we got back, and really, it was just so nice to be back on our field.”
South Carolina returned home to Columbia, after road trips to the Highlander Classic and Coastal Carolina.
In the opening matchup against Arkansas on Friday, the two squads traded blows in a game where neither team was able to pull away by more than a run. After multiple lead changes, Arkansas was able to land a single and an ensuing home run to take the lead in the seventh inning. In the bottom of the inning, the Gamecocks scored a run of their own and sent the game to extras.
Audrey Broyles recorded all eight innings pitched for the Gamecocks, but gave up one too many home runs, as her fifth of the day came in the eighth inning and resulted in a 5-4 loss for the team.
Even with giving up the long balls, Smith liked her team’s effort on Friday.
“It was a great softball game,” Smith said. “I love the way our team played that night, and we just fell short in the end. Arkansas had four home runs in the game, so it’s tough when the balls are flying out of the park, but our kids competed and played hard. I had no problem with that loss.”
South Carolina bounced back on Saturday and refused to let Arkansas stay close in another game. The Gamecocks scored in each of the first three innings, and pitcher Katelynn Howser didn’t allow a run until the sixth. Howser threw a complete game and helped the Gamecocks end their three-game slide, as they won game two, 7-2.
“Katelynn Howser did a really nice job changing speeds (Saturday) against them, kept the hitters off balance, and we jumped on them early in game two,” said Smith.
Yesterday afternoon saw yet another thrilling performance from the home team. The rubber match of the series needed all three of South Carolina’s pitchers to come into the game, as Kierstyn White and Howser struggled through more than three innings of the game.
The Razorbacks posted five runs in the top of the second inning, silencing the crowd of 514 at Beckham Field early on. But the Gamecocks began to chip away, as they pulled within two runs through the next four innings.
Down 7-5 in the bottom of the sixth, Olivia Lawrence served up a pinch-hit RBI to pull her team within one. Then, in the bottom of the seventh, Childs stepped up to the plate and belted her second home run of the day to help her team walk off with a series win, 8-7.
Throughout the season, Smith has voiced how much she likes to see her upperclassmen perform in clutch situations. Childs fulfilled that expectation on Sunday.
“I knew we had to score at least one to get it,” said Childs. “Like I said, I just wanted to put a good swing on a good pitch, and she ended up throwing me one in my zone, so I put a good bat on it and it happened to go over the fence, so I’m happy with it.”
Smith knows that winning their first conference series of the season is a good sign for the Gamecocks.
“The SEC is a grind, and every game, just like this weekend, is just a slugfest,” Smith said. “You’ve got to get in there ready to compete. So the fact that you can win the series is awesome. We’re going to take a win any time we can get one, and the fact that we can come out and win our first series is a great way to start.”