South Carolina shuts out North Florida to win pitcher's duel and advance to regional final

At some point, South Carolina knew it was going to break through. It didn’t know when, but with the offense continuously putting the ball in play, things eventually had to go its way.

Through five innings on Saturday, the Gamecocks weren’t doing much against North Florida two-way star Allison Benning, who had only allowed two hits and no runs. Head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard could sense they were getting closer to wearing her down, they just needed to shift their focus.

“I honestly felt like we were focused a little bit too much on Benning itself,” Chastain Woodard said, “and just trying to beat her versus like, ‘Okay, what is the game giving us right now? How can we beat the ball? How can we beat the game?’”

Once they were able to reset, good things soon followed. After firing a 107-pitch complete game against Virginia one day earlier, Benning’s pitch count reached triple digits by the sixth, when No. 8 South Carolina scored three runs to earn a 3-0 win.

The Gamecocks (42-15) will move on to the regional final, where they will face North Florida once again. The Ospreys won in walk-off fashion against Virginia in an elimination game on Saturday to stay alive. South Carolina only needs one win in two tries to advance to a super regional.

Stay on top of all things Gamecocks for just $1 for 7 days—lock in this special offer today!

On her 104th pitch of the day, Benning served up a two-out double to Ella Chancey, who just missed a two-run homer back in the fourth. Chloe Lackey, pinch-running for Arianna Rodi after a walk, went first to third on Chancey’s hit, and then raced home on a one-hop throw from the outfield that skipped by North Florida catcher Mackenzie Woods to break a scoreless tie.

“Definitely could feel it coming around at the end that (Benning) was getting tired, and we knew that we had to capitalize on that because it was really evident,” Chancey said. “When we see a pitcher start to honestly labor out there a little bit, that’s when we have to put our intention more into the game. That’s when we can really generate something and make it happen.”

After 110 pitches, Benning’s outing was over after 5.2 innings as she was unable to finish off the Gamecocks in the sixth. Once the Ospreys turned to their bullpen, Emma Sellers ripped a two-run single through the left side to provide insurance runs for the pitching staff to work with.

“I felt like we reset, refocused on the right things there in the middle of the game,” Chastain Woodard said. “That really paid off for us. So I’m really proud of them.”

The runs came at the perfect time after Sam Gress matched Benning’s outing with zeroes across the board. She made it through 4.2 innings, only allowing six hits and three walks with four strikeouts on 75 pitches.

Just like on Friday, Chastain Woodard called on Jori Heard, who had pitched 5.1 scoreless innings to help South Carolina beat Elon. Coming in with two outs in the fifth, she picked up right where she left off and retired all seven batters she faced.

With another strong all-around performance, the Gamecocks move one step closer to getting through the weekend and moving closer to their ultimate goal.

“We’ll probably approach it like, let’s sweep the series,” Chastain Woodard said. “Obviously, we’ll see who we’re playing later this afternoon, but I don’t think the messaging will be any different.”

Up next: South Carolina will face North Florida in the Columbia Regional final on Sunday. First pitch will be at 1 p.m. on ESPN Plus.

Visit The Insiders Forum, our exclusive Gamecocks-only, no-trolls message board!