South Carolina softball can't overcome defensive miscues, Texas A&M offense in SEC Tournament loss
Texas A&M is one of the best teams in the country. They showed it on Thursday. South Carolina had a pretty good night at the plate, but the Aggies (and some USC defensive miscues) proved to be too much to handle in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal. At the end of the night, Texas A&M won by a score of 12-4.
Early in the game, it felt like the starting pitchers would hold these two powerful offenses back.
The Gamecocks worked the count on Emiley Kennedy in the first, but the lefty went three-up, three-down anyway. Chastain Woodard’s team manufactured a run in the second to take an early lead.
Sam Gress got into trouble in the bottom of the first, but the scoreboard read 0-0 when the dust settled.
The lack of offense wouldn’t last.
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Gress wasn’t as fortunate in the second inning as she gave up two home runs to Kennedy Powell and Mya Perez, allowing A&M to overtake USC and take a 4-1 lead.
Then in the third, Karley Shelton blasted a ball to right field that hit off the protective netting in front of the scoreboard. The solo shot brought the Gamecocks back within two runs.
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South Carolina chipped away with another run in the fourth but couldn’t put up a crooked number despite putting three different runners on base. Some of the previously-mentioned Gamecock defensive miscues hurt USC in the bottom half of the frame as a pair of errors, a defensive obstruction call, and a poor decision allowed A&M to plate two more runs.
Quincee Lilio hit her first home run of the season in the fifth to cut the lead to 6-4, but that inning proved to be the final one of the game. Texas A&M managed a six-run showing in the stanza, fittingly winning it on a walk-off error. It was South Carolina’s fifth of the game.
Five errors is a high number, but the Gamecocks had a few other plays that were problematic on defense. A poor throw decision, a busted double play, and an obstruction call were among the non-error “errors” on Thursday. Giving second chances to an offense as good as A&M’s proved to be too much to overcome for USC. Mya Perez and KK Dement combined for nine RBI, several coming after defensive missteps.
Up next: South Carolina softball will await Selection Sunday to learn their NCAA Tournament fate. The Gamecocks will host a Regional but are right on the line as a top-8 national host. Fans can tune in to ESPN2 on Sunday, May 11th at 7:00 p.m. to watch the selection show. The ESPN app also will make the show available via streaming.
