South Carolina softball dominates UCF, keeps dancing into Regional Final
For the past week, runs had been hard to come by for South Carolina. Sure, it found ways to win but still hadn’t found its big inning.
That all changed Saturday night. The Gamecocks broke out for five runs in the fifth inning to cruise to a 10-1 win over UCF.
After losing its opening game of the NCAA Tournament to UCF, South Carolina was in must-win mode. It was now win or go home. But it bounced back with two wins on Saturday, setting up a date in the Regional Final.
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The Gamecocks got on the board after pulling off a double steal in the second. It was pretty nip-and-tuck for the next few innings. Neither team was able to provide the big punch.
But then after getting out of a jam in the fifth, South Carolina was ready to make some noise.
It began with a pair of singles from Emma Sellers and Hannah Hawley, then Jordan Fabian worked a walk to load the bases with one out. Zoe Laneaux was next up and drove home a run via sacrifice fly.
Then came the big blow.
On the first pitch Aaliyah White saw, she hit a dribbler past the glove of the second baseman into center field, scoring one run. As the throw from center field came home, it skipped to the backstop, allowing two more runs to score. After so many low-scoring games, this was just what the Gamecocks needed.
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Later in the inning, White scored from third on a wild pitch to cap off an impressive frame. South Carolina sent seven batters up to the plate but took advantage of UCF’s mistakes to pad the lead.
Even before the big rally, the one run was more than enough for Bailey Betenbaugh to work with. But after adding five more runs, she was in complete control.
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Betenbaugh was just about as good as advertised. She twirled seven strong innings, allowing four hits and a run. After serving up a leadoff double in the fourth, she retired the next nine batters she faced. It was until the seventh that the Knights got their next hit.
After it took Donnie Gobourne 145 pitches to only get through 5.1 innings on Friday, Betenbaugh only needed 64 pitches to finish off a complete game.
All in all, it was a nice bounce back outing for Betenbaugh, who pitched earlier in the day against Marist and gave up the game’s tying run before the Gamecocks went on to win 2-1.
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South Carolina added four more insurance runs in the seventh, symbolic of being the icing on the cake. Kyye Rick, who pinch-ran for Laneaux, scored on a White bunt. White, who had been a base-stealing machine all night long, stole home on a double steal.
Marissa Gonzalez put the final nail in UCF’s coffin with a two-run homer over the wall to make it 10-0.
Up next: It only gets tougher from here. The Gamecocks will face Florida State in the Regional Final on Sunday. First pitch is at 11 a.m. It will take two wins over the Seminoles to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals.
