South Carolina softball walks it off in Opening Day win

It was a wild first game for new head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard as the Gamecocks came from behind to win 7-6 over Virginia. Early on South Carolina struggled, making five errors on fundamental fielding mistakes and not capitalizing on hits.

But in the end, the Gamecocks were able to shake off the early Opening Day jitters and secure the first win of the Gamecock Invitational. Today’s win marked a very memorial one for Chastain Woodard in her first season back in Columbia since she was a student.

“I mean, it’s nothing to never forget. Any win is really special, and we celebrate it in the locker room with each other,” Chastain Woodard said.

How it happened

Virginia got on the board first with three runs in the first inning as South Carolina seemed to take some time to get into a flow.

Sixth-year pitcher and former Charlotte 49er Sam Gress was on the mound first for the Gamecocks. Gress went for three innings on the mound giving up two earned runs and walking four batters.

However, Gress continued at the plate going 1-for-1 with a double resulting in a run scored before exiting the game after being hit by a pitch in her second at-bat.

For the Cavaliers, preseason All-ACC team sixth-year pitcher Eden Bigham started on the mound. The righty held the Gamecocks to just one run unearned in three innings on the mound allowing just three walks. She would later return in an attempt to close the game.

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After the first, the Gamecocks were able to gain more control of the game and hold the Cavaliers until the fifth. By the bottom of the second, South Carolina was on the board with an RBI single to center field by Quincee Lilio.

Following Bigham, fifth-year lefty Savanah Henley took the mound and attempted to close the game for Virgina. However, Henley exited the game just as South Carolina made their seventh-inning comeback. Henley finished with four strikeouts and three walks with four earned runs in 3.1 innings.

The bats for South Carolina started cold with just a few hits until the seventh inning. But one Gamecock who shined at the plate was former Oklahoma Sooner Lilio who went 3-for-4 with three RBI. After trailing 6-2 and down to their final three outs, the Gamecocks scored five runs in the seventh to win it.

“Really proud of Quincee Lilio in the lead off. I thought she was fantastic tonight for us there,” Chastain Woodard said.

Two observations

Jori Heard is great out of the bullpen—Heard entered the game in the fourth with the Gamecocks down by three and immediately went three up and three down with one strikeout.

The two runs to follow in the fifth were unearned to Heard as she pitched another strikeout that inning. To seal off her night, Heard pitched three back-to-back-to-back strikeouts in the top of the seventh ending her night in six strikeouts.

“Really proud of Jori Heard on the other side of the ball to come in down four, I believe, at the time she came in the game,” Chastain Woodard said. “She punched out six and just get kept giving us a chance to win every inning that she threw, which takes a lot of guts, you know, to come in that situation really be able to finish up so really proud of the whole team.

Momentum builds—South Carolina was close to seeing a game-one loss and starting its season off on the wrong foot. But the Gamecocks were able to build off of Heard’s pitching and the bats came through to get momentum building. Four of South Carolina’s eight hits came in the seventh.

“I thought it was really electric, like the feeling, like the confidence we all had in each other,” Heard said. “We knew each person, whoever was up, whoever was in that moment, was going to get the job done first game of the season to do that.”

Key Stat

Five errors—Despite the win, the Gamecocks struggled with basic fielding mistakes and errors throughout including back-to-back throwing errors in the fifth resulting in two runs scored.

Short and backward throws resulted in just some of the Gamecocks’ errors. It was clear to fans that there are still some fundamentals that need attention for South Carolina.

“And you know, we have a lot to learn,” Chastain Woodard said. “Have a lot to get better, at lot to grow from, but in the day like just so proud that they had a lot of grit and resilience to figure it out there in the bottom of the seventh and not give up.”

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Turning point

The seventh inning—There is no Gamecock win on Thursday without the seventh-inning rally. Coming off of three strikeouts by Heard on the mound and down by four runs, the Gamecocks knew they needed to capitalize on newfound momentum.

Senior Ella Chancey starts the inning off with a single off an error, her first hit of the game. Blankenship is walked and Knight singled to right field.

With bases loaded, Emma Sellers walked by Henley and the Gamecocks now trailed 6-3.

Bigham returned to the mound to relieve Henley and she walked Shae Anderson sending Blankenship home to make it a two-run ball game.

Lilio came up big at the plate with a two-run RBI single to tie the game. Shelton, who had struggled throughout the game at the plate, reached on a fielder’s choice sending Anderson home on a throwing error to walk it off.

“I think we were locked in the whole time,” Lilio said. “We were super, super electric. And we were just locked into our plan. We trusted the process.”

The South Carolina Gamecocks struggled to work out some fundamental issues in the debut of first-year head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard. On opening day, the Gamecocks fell to a well-rounded UVA team in Game 1 of the Gamecock Invitational.

South Carolina fought hard but was unable to bounce back after Virginia got on the board early. In a team full of five returners, it was clear the Gamecocks still have some minor snags to work out.

Up next

As a part of the Gamecock Invitational, South Carolina will face off against the Cavaliers again Friday, Feb 7. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. at Beckham Field and will be available to watch on the SEC Network Plus.

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