No. 17 South Carolina takes series opener at No. 8 Duke
No pitcher was throwing better than Cassidy Curd coming into the week. The South Carolina offense was ready for the Duke ace. The Gamecocks knocked Curd out early en route to a 14-7 win in Durham to open the teams’ non-conference series. South Carolina remains one of the last undefeated teams in the nation along with Oklahoma.
The biggest swing of the game came from All-American Arianna Rodi. The Charlotte transfer blasted a three-run home run off Curd. That highlighted a six-run third inning with all runs charged to Curd. Abigail Knight, who had four RBIs on the night, delivered a two-run single in the frame.
South Carolina remained scoreless after that until the seventh. The Gamecocks needed insurance runs as Duke had trimmed its deficit to two. South Carolina exploded for eight more runs to put the game away. Knight, Lexi Winters, Natalie Heath and Karley Shelton drove in runs. Every Gamecock starter collected a hit except one in the win.
Nealy Lamb got off to a good start outside of dealing with Aminah Vega. She opened her outing with back-to-back strikeouts before Vega tripled and came in to score on a Amiah Burgess single. She continued to roll aside of facing the Duke All-American. Vega hit a solo shot in the third. She finished the night 3-for-4 and a double short of the cycle.
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Duke did knock Lamb out in the fourth. Kairi Rodriguez and KK Mathis had RBI doubles. Sam Gress recorded an out before making way for the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week Jori Heard. The righty stabilized things for the Gamecocks. She went 3.1 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs, which all came in the seventh inning.
The Blue Devils will look to even the series on Saturday, 1 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra. Except Dani Drogemuller to get the ball but don’t be shocked to see Curd if needed. South Carolina could go with any of its top three arms but Gress seems the most likely based on Friday’s usage.
