Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 COLUMBUS, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken softball team reeled off a pair of shutout wins at Columbus State by scores of 14-0 and 1-0 Saturday afternoon.
The Pacers are now 22-10 on the season, including a 6-4 record against league foes. The Cougars drop to 21-20 on the year and 5-9 against conference competition.
In the opening game, Taylor Morgan tossed an outstanding competition, caging the Cougars in the process. She gave up a mere single and two walks while striking out six batters en route to earning the victory. Her dynamic pitching allowed USC Aiken to take the lead in the fifth inning before breaking it open a stanza later.
Head coach Jerry Snyder's team had just one base runner through the first four innings, coming on Samantha Chubb's single in the first. However, the squad adjusted to the pitching in the fifth and the offense followed.
Magan Thrower drew a lead-off walk. Taylor Allen came in as a pinch runner and promptly moved to second on Morgan's bunt, putting Pacers on first and second. Lyndie Dorgan laid down a bunt that was mishandled by the third baseman, loading the bags for USC Aiken.
Andrea Daring stepped into the batter's box and unleashed a drive to straight-away center field for a grand slam – and a 4-0 lead.
After Morgan retired the side in order in the bottom of the fifth, the Pacers left little doubt in the contest by plating 10 runs in the sixth.
Hannah Price led off the frame with an opposite field single. Samantha Peka came in as a pinch runner for Price. With one down, Morgan reached on an error. Sarah Timmerman replaced Morgan on first as a pinch runner. Lyndie Dorgan laid down a bunt single, scoring Peka.
The Cougars changed pitchers, but decided to pitch to Daring, who promptly roped a double down the left field line, scoring Timmerman. Chandler Terrapin came in as a pinch hitter and reached on a fielder's choice that scored Dorgan.
Brielle Jungblut replaced Terrapin on first base. An illegal pitch scored Janee McCarthy, who had replaced Daring on the base paths. Sarah Montei walked to put runners on first and second before Sydney Murphy's single loaded the bases. Samantha Chubb drove in a run via a walk, which marked her 96th career RBI. That pushed her into a tie for second on the USC Aiken career list.
Price singled home Montei before Magan Thrower unleashed a hard shot that cleared the left field fence for a grand slam, tying the 13-year old PBC record for grand slams in a game (2 by Francis Marion vs. USC Spartanburg on March 23, 2003).
For the game, Daring led everyone with five RBI on a pair of hits. Thrower notched four RBI. Price added a pair of hits in the win. Dorgan crossed home twice as 13 Pacers scored in the game.
The second contest between the teams was completely different from the first one.
After a scoreless first inning, Price laced a double down the left field line to lead off the second. Allen came in as a pinch runner and moved to third on Thrower's groundout. Leah Boghosian singled back to the pitch, plating Allen for what turned out to be the game-winning run.
Dorgan got out of a jam in the second as the Cougars placed runners on first and third. However, Dorgan struck one batter out and forced a grounder to Chubb to get out of the inning.
Columbus State threatened in the fifth, but Dorgan quickly got the third out of the stanza. In the seventh, the Cougars got the lead-off batter on base and had her in scoring position before a groundout and a fly ball ended the contest.
For the game, Dorgan earned the complete-game victory. She scattered four singles and walked one while striking out two.
Boghosian and Price each had two hits in the win.
The 14-0 win marked the largest shutout victory by USC Aiken in school history in a conference contest. The sweep marked the fourth time in school history USC Aiken had registered back-to-back shutouts over a conference school, with the last coming Apr. 5, 2005 at Lander by scores of 6-0 and 3-0.
The Pacers return to action tomorrow when they play a doubleheader at Georgia Southwestern starting at 2 p.m. Live stats will be available at PacerSports.com.
