South Carolina softball loses to UCF in NCAA Tournament regional, faces elimination Saturday
South Carolina softball lost to Central Florida 6-1 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament regional, and the Gamecocks now need four consecutive wins to advance out of the Tallahassee region.
The Gamecocks (37-21) went down 1-0 against UCF (40-19) in the top of the third inning on a single from Chloe Evans that brought home Jada Cody. Though it tied the score 1-1 in the bottom of the third, South Carolina couldn’t respond once the Knights opened up a 3-1 lead in the fourth off back-to-back mistakes. The Gamecocks gave up the first run of the inning on a wild pitch, and a slow pass from shortstop to first allowed Johneisha Rowe to score from third.
UCF sealed the victory in the top of the sixth inning with a two-run triple from Evans.
South Carolina faces Marist (29-29) in an elimination game in the losers' bracket Saturday (3:30 p.m., TV TBD). No. 3 seed Florida State (51-8) plays Central Florida at 1 p.m. Saturday, and the winner of the losers' bracket matchup will face the loser of that matchup in an elimination game at 6 p.m. Saturday.
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Fifth-year Jordan Fabian kept the South Carolina offense alive with hits in her first two at-bats. She connected for the team’s lone RBI on a left-field single that brought home Emma Sellers.
Gamecocks ace Donnie Gobourne struggled with her changeup against the Knights, so the senior didn’t have the same consistency that fueled South Carolina during the SEC Tournament. She threw 145 pitches in 5⅓ innings and walked six batters. Though she allowed six runs, Gobourne still finished with six strikeouts after striking out the side in the fifth.
UCF pitcher Sarah Willis, who ranks No. 25 in the nation with a 1.46 ERA, held the South Carolina offense to six hits and struck out four batters.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: NCAA Softball Tournament: South Carolina loses to UCF in regional
