No. 11 Gamecocks top No. 20 Arkansas to take series

COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 11 South Carolina softball used a six-run sixth inning sparked with a two-run Krystan White home run to split the Sunday doubleheader and take the series over No. 20 Arkansas at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. Carolina dropped the first game 4-0 before closing the series with a 6-2 victory.

The Razorbacks looked destined to take the doubleheader and series leading 2-0 through five in the second game, before White’s two-run home run sparked five Carolina runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to give the Gamecocks their third SEC series win over a ranked opponent in 2018.

With the win, the Gamecocks find themselves in third place in the SEC standings through Sunday’s action before heading to Gainesville, Fla., next weekend to face the second-place Gators.

South Carolina (33-7, 8-4 SEC) faced one of the best pitching duos in the country in Arkansas’ (29-8, 6-6) Autumn Storms and Mary Haff in the second game of the doubleheader.

The Razorbacks jumped on the board early, scoring one in the first and third to take a 2-0 lead through three.

Although Carolina struggled at times throughout the day at the plate, the team kept grinding going into the bottom of the sixth trailing 2-0. Cayla Drotar started the inning with a one-out double and from there the Gamecock offense was alive.

Kennedy Clark followed it with an RBI single before White’s home run two batters later to give the Gamecocks their first lead of the afternoon in either game at 3-2. A walk and double set up Mackenzie Boesel for a monstrous deep shot to right to make it 6-2 Gamecocks through six as Carolina sent nine batters to the plate in the inning.

Drotar (15-2) earned the victory in the circle for the Gamecocks in three innings of action, allowing just one hit.

Kenzi Maguire led the way at the plate going 3-for-4 with a run scored. Boesel and White shined as Boesel went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run while White finished 1-for-2 with a two-run deep shot. Clark also impressed going 1-for-3 with an RBI hit and run scored.

The first game was a tip-of-the-hat moment to Arkansas as Haff (17-3) tossed a complete-game shutout, allowing just one hit in the game as Arkansas tied the series at 1-1 with a 4-0 victory. The loss ended Carolina’s 17-game winning streak at home.