Columbia, S.C. -- South Carolina plated three runs in the bottom of the first and held on to down Furman, 4-1, in non-conference softball action on Tuesday evening at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.

The loss dropped the Paladins to 26-26, while the Gamecocks improved to 33-16.

Furman got on the board in the first inning as Candace Johnson lined a leadoff single to center field, moved to third base with the help of a sacrifice bunt and passed ball and scored on AnnaRose Borrelli's single to left field.

The Gamecocks answered with three runs in the bottom half of the first inning. Alexis Mack reached on a bunt single and Alaynie Page drew a walk ahead of Kennedy Clark's RBI double to tie the game at 1-1. Furman starter Lindsey Bert retired the next two batters and looked like she may escape further trouble when Ansley Ard laced a two-run triple to center field on a two-strike pitch to give South Carolina a 3-1 lead.

After the Gamecocks added a fourth run on an RBI single to right field by Page in the bottom of the fourth inning, Furman tried to mount a late threat in the seventh. Elise Smith ripped a one-out double to right field and Emma Ogburn followed with a walk to bring the tying run to the plate, but Gamecock starter Nickie Blue got Taylor Collins to fly out to left field and Brittany Houston to ground out to second base to end the game.

Blue improved to 16-12 in the circle by holding Furman to just an unearned run on four hits over seven innings. She struck out five batters and issued three walks.

Mack went 3-for-3 for the Gamecocks, while Page and Ard added two hits apiece.

Bert (16-15) suffered the loss for the Paladins allowing four runs on nine hits over five innings of work. She walked three batters and fanned two.

Furman will wrap up the regular season and look to make a late push in the SoCon standings when it travels to Macon, Ga., to take on Mercer in a three-game league series on Saturday and Sunday. The SoCon Softball Championship is set for May 11-14, at UNCG Softball Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information