Gamecocks earn first SEC win with 7-3 victory at Ole Miss

COLUMBIA, S.C. –No. 17 South Carolina opened up SEC play with a commanding 7-3 win over No. 23 Ole Miss on Friday at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. Carolina took an early 5-0 lead it wouldn’t surrender thanks to four runs with two outs in the fourth to help the Gamecocks to their first win over a ranked opponent in 2018.

Alyssa VanDerveer led the way at the plate for Carolina, going 4-for-4 with two RBI. Mackenzie Boesel also shined going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Kenzi Maguire accounted for two more Carolina RBI as she finished the night 1-for-4.

Cayla Drotar (12-1) earned the victory in the circle, going all seven innings allowing just one earned run while striking out two.

“This is a great way to start off SEC play,” head coach Beverly Smith said. “I liked seeing our kids come out and be aggressive at the plate. I thought we attacked good pitches. We were consistent at the plate all night.”

South Carolina (23-3, 1-0 SEC) took the momentum from the start as Drotar pitched three-straight scoreless innings to start the game and shut the Ole Miss (14-8, 0-4 SEC) offense down.

Carolina started the scoring effort in the fourth, as Krystan White’s SAC fly with one out gave the Gamecocks a 1-0 lead. From there, Maguire and Boesel RBI-hits brought home four runs with two outs to make it 5-0 Carolina after four.

The Rebels attempted a comeback effort in the fifth with three runs, only one of which was earned, but Drotar re-gained her momentum as she posted a scoreless sixth inning to make it 5-3 Carolina after six.

Carolina showed it wasn’t content with five runs, as VanDerveer brought home two more with an RBI hit in the seventh to make it 7-3 Gamecocks before Drotar shut the Rebels down one last time in the bottom frame.

USC Athletics contributed to the writing of this article.