South Carolina softball run rules Furman in tuneup for final SEC series
South Carolina softball started off its final week of the regular season with a resounding win Tuesday.
The No. 14 ranked Gamecocks took care of in-state foe Furman 10-2 in six innings and moved to 37-13 on the year with the win.
“Overall, it was a great night,” South Carolina head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard said. “I thought we played really well, which is what we needed to do coming off the weekend. Kind of re-calibrating, getting focused on this series with Alabama, which is obviously a big one for us.”
The Paladins got on the scoreboard first, entering the second inning up 2-0 after a two-RBI double from Rachel Hakins.
South Carolina’s lineup was blanked in the first inning but responded in the bottom of the second with six runs. The Gamecocks drew five walks in the frame (including two on eight-straight balls) and got runs via a fielders choice from Emily Vinson, a single from Quincee Lilio, a double from Karley Shelton, a single from Arianna Rodi and a sac fly from Brooke Blankenship.
The Gamecocks extended its lead to 7-2 in the bottom of the fifth after an RBI single from freshman Shae Anderson. A two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning from Audrey Wilson, the freshman’s first career hit, gave South Carolina some extra insurance and a 9-2 lead. An RBI double from Mya Flindt in the bottom of the sixth secured the 10-2 run rule victory for the Gamecocks.
After a shaky start, South Carolina’s pitchers finished strong on Tuesday. Nealy Lamb pitched two perfect innings of after giving up two runs in the first inning. Jori Heard took over for Lamb in the fourth inning and proceeded to pitch 2.2 perfect innings. Kadie Becker finished things off with 0.1 innings on the mound.
“It’s kind of like gold, you can’t buy it this time of the year,” Chastain Woodard said of the pitching staff’s performance. “...Their confidence right now is of the utmost importance. Their stuff is their stuff. We’ve developed that all year. That’s just kind of about maintenance right now. But just the guts and the mentality and the resilience is huge.”
What’s next?
South Carolina will end its regular season with a three-game series against Alabama starting Thursday night. The Gamecocks are looking to clinch their first winning record in SEC play since 2018.
Alabama enters the series ranked No. 18 in the country with a 35-18 record.
Alabama, South Carolina, LSU and Mississippi State are all currently tied in the SEC standings with an 11-10 conference record. South Carolina could finish as high as No. 4 and as low as No. 9 or No. 10 in the SEC, depending on how the final weekend of the season shakes out, Chastain Woodard said.
“As a team, I want them to just play pitch to pitch, inning to inning (and) be very present,” Chastain Woodard said of the upcoming series. “Obviously, just worry about game one, and we can put that one in our pocket and then go win the series on Friday night...So I think it’s going to be really intense. I think it’s going to be pitch to pitch like really kind of nitty gritty, just everything that you would expect from, a top 15 SEC matchup. Especially with what’s on the line for both sides.”
First-year coach nearing record, other milestones
Chastain Woodard is now just two wins away from breaking a program record with its win over Furman on Tuesday.
The Gamecocks currently sport a 37-13 record. The record for most wins by a South Carolina first-year head coach is 38, set by Judy Martino in 1979.
“It’s been a dream to be here and just to have a successful first season is something I’m really grateful for,” Chastain Woodard said. “It definitely is an accumulation of everyone that’s been involved, not just me. Everyone that took a chance on us last summer, all the players that came in, the staff that believed in me and just the vision of where we wanted to take the program and the brand.”
Chastain Woodard has a shot at beating that record and hitting the 40-win mark if South Carolina wins the remainder of its games this week. South Carolina has won at least 40 games six times since 2000.
