The No. 16 South Carolina softball team won their second consecutive SEC game on Saturday afternoon at Beckham Field over the No. 24 Ole Miss Rebels (21-8, 2-2 SEC) by a score of 2-0.
The Gamecocks' (23-7, 2-5 SEC) lone runs came in the second inning on back-to-back solo home runs to left field from Gamecocks redshirt junior outfielder Lauren Stewart and sophomore infielder Alyssa Kumiyama.
The homers from Stewart and Kumiyama made up two of South Carolina’s three hits in the low-hitting affair as compared to the Rebels’ three hits.
Ole Miss’ lack of hitting was due large in part to Gamecocks sophomore starting pitcher Kelsey Oh who recorded nine strikeouts as she pitched a complete game for South Carolina.
Oh also came through for the Gamecocks with clutch pitching in crucial situations, starting in the first inning where the Rebels were threatening with runners on second and third, with two outs to start the game.
The starting sophomore pitcher would then have to face Rebels sophomore third baseman Amanda Roth, who Oh struck out on a seven-pitch at-bat to end the scoring threat.
Oh got South Carolina out of a jam in the sixth inning as Rebels senior outfielder Kylan Becker stole second with one out to put a runner in scoring position for Ole Miss. She struck out the next two batters to keep the Rebels to no runs, which is how it stayed as Ole Miss could not muster up any runs in the final inning to secure the Gamecocks’ 2-0 victory over the Rebels.
The win came after the Gamecocks started conference play with five straight losses. But now South Carolina will look to clinch its first SEC series of the 2019 campaign on Sunday evening for game two against Ole Miss.
First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Beckham Field, and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.