After winning games one and two in dramatic walk-off fashion, the South Carolina softball team made waves with an eight-run third inning en route to a 15-5 win over the Tennessee Lady Vols in five innings.
Friday night featured a four-run comeback highlighted by Jana Johns and Tiara Duffy home runs. The Gamecocks would eventually win when the Lady Vols botched an intentional walk in the seventh inning of a tie game that scored Kenzi Maguire from third to give the Gamecocks the 8-7 win.
There was some controversy surrounding the win, however. In the fourth inning, Aubrey Leach appeared to score for the Lady Vols, but the umpires ruled that she did not cross the plate before Jenna Holcomb was tagged out at third. Had the run counted, this could have been a completely different ballgame, but the Gamecocks were able to capitalize on this ruling and get the win.
In game two, the Gamecocks rallied from being down 4-2 for most of the game to score three runs in the bottom of the seventh to eek out a 5-4 win and to clinch their first series win over the Lady Vols since 2005. Kennedy Clark hit a game winning two-RBI single to the left field wall to clinch it for the Gamecocks. However, the team was not satisfied with just a series win.
"Even though we've won the series, we still want to get that third win," Clark said. "Every game counts and it would be nice to sweep the number two team in the nation."
On Sunday, the Gamecocks did just that. After going back and forth during the first two innings, each team pushed across two runs. Then the Lady Vols scored three in the third off of an Ashley Morgan home run as they looked to avoid the sweep. But the back-and-forth continued in the bottom of the third as the Gamecocks were determined to prove them wrong.
Cayla Drotar started off the hitting parade with a sacrifice fly to right where Tennessee's Amanda Ayala committed a throwing error, allowing Mackenzie Boesel to go to third and Jordyn Augustus to second. Kennedy Clark then hit a two-RBI double to tie the game. A few batters later, freshman Alyssa Kumiyama pinch hit for Kamryn Watts. Kumiyama hit a bases clearing double on a 3-2 count to give the Gamecocks an 8-5 lead.
The Gamecocks would not let up, eventually winning the game 15-5 in five innings. South Carolina head coach Beverley Smith gave the credit for the sweep to her players.
"I'm so proud of this team, the way they fought all weekend," Smith said. "Then the way they came out, and put an exclamation point on game three, I'm so proud of them."
The three-game sweep was the first sweep the Gamecocks had over a top five team in the SEC era. Smith described the sweep as a "statement win" and hopes they can keep making statements when they host Furman Wednesday at 7 p.m. before heading on the road to face Texas A&M over the weekend.