FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — An RBI single by Riley Blampied in the top of the eighth lifted the 10th-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks (35-19) to a 1-0 win over 7th-seeded Texas A&M (33-19) to open the SEC Softball Tournament Wednesday.
Pitching dominated the day as Carolina pitchers limited the Aggies to two infield singles on the day, while the Gamecocks finished with three hits. Gamecock batters were hit five times in the game.
South Carolina put a runner on in all the odd innings. Carolina moved a runner to third in the third and seventh innings with two outs, but each time was unable to bring a run home.
The Gamecocks first hit came in the fifth inning on a two-out double from Giulia Desiderio.
Carolina broke through in the eighth as Emma Sellers was hit to lead off the inning. After stealing second, Jordan Fabian was also hit by a pitch. With two outs and a 3-2 count, Blampied delivered for the Gamecocks, singling through the right side, scoring Sellers from second.
And that is when the weather came. First lightning forced the teams off the field as pinch hitter Hannah Hawley was coming to bat. After nearly an hour, the teams left the field as the Gamecocks returned to their hotel. The rain soon followed, pushing the total delay to 4:11 once the two sides came back to resume the game in the top of the eighth.
The Aggies nearly tied the game with the leadoff batter in the bottom of the eighth, but Marissa Gonzalez took away a home run, with a leaping catch down the left field line at the wall.
Donnie Gobourne walked a pair to put the winning run on first, but got a strikeout, and a flyout to Gonzalez to end the game.
Karsen Ochs started in the circle and went 2 2-3 innings, striking out a batter and allowing just two runners to reach on the infield singles. Gobourne earned her 11th win of the season as she threw the final 5 1-3 innings. At one point, she retired 11 Aggies in a row. She did not allow a hit while striking out six and walking three.
The Gamecocks now focus on No. 2 seed Georgia Thursday at 4 p.m. CT.
