South Carolina’s 19th ranked softball team secured a doubleheader sweep over Queens University Charlotte on Sunday, finishing the Garnet & Black Invitational with two wins. The Gamecocks posted a 25-4 victory in five innings for game one and followed up with an 8-2 win in game two.
The team amassed a total of 33 runs and 30 hits across both games. The 25 runs scored in the opening matchup marked their highest single-game output since tallying 29 against Alabama State in March 2013. Arianna Rodi led the offense with seven RBIs in game one, the most by a South Carolina player since Cayla Drotar drove in eight runs versus Campbell in February 2019.
In the first contest, Queens took an early lead with three runs over the first two innings. South Carolina responded quickly: Rodi delivered an RBI single to start their scoring, then Karley Shelton and Tori Ensley each drew bases-loaded walks to bring home additional runs. Tate Davis hit her first career grand slam during a seven-run second inning.
The Gamecocks continued their offensive surge with ten more runs in the third inning, highlighted by Davis’s two-run double and Rodi’s milestone three-run homer—her 50th career home run. In the fourth, South Carolina batted around again for another seven runs, including back-to-back RBI singles from Natalie Heath and Kai Byars.
Nealy Lamb earned the win for South Carolina by pitching three innings of relief, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four batters.
Game two saw Queens open with a two-run homer before South Carolina answered back with three runs in their half of the first inning. Quincee Lilio and Shelton started off with consecutive doubles; Ensley singled to score Shelton and later came home on Lexi Winters’ double.
Lilio added another RBI on a groundout during the second inning, while Shelton contributed an additional run-scoring groundout. Davis homered twice more—a solo shot and then a two-run homer—to finish her day with three round-trippers overall this season.
Jori Heard was credited with the victory after pitching nearly five innings of relief, giving up only three hits and striking out eight—her season high.
South Carolina will begin SEC play next weekend when they host defending national champion Texas for a three-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m.
For updates on South Carolina Softball, fans can visit GamecocksOnline.com or follow @GamecockSoftbll on Twitter, /GamecockSoftball on Facebook, or @GamecockSoftball on Instagram.
