South Carolina routs UCLA in historic Super Regional victory
South Carolina capitalized on early offense and strong pitching to earn a 9-2 win over UCLA. The Game One win marked the Gamecocks’ first-ever Super Regional victory in program history.
The Gamecocks ambushed UCLA starter Kaitlyn Terry in the first inning. After a leadoff walk, Lexi Winters launched a two-run homer to open the scoring. Following another free pass, Brooke Blankenship doubled home a third run, giving South Carolina a 3-0 lead after the first.
Jori Heard turned in a scoreless second inning to preserve the early lead. In the home half, Karley Shelton and Arianna Rodi delivered back-to-back two-out RBI singles. The advantage swelled to 5-0 and chased Terry from the game after just 1.2 innings.
Heard tossed a clean third inning, while UCLA reliever Addisen Fisher quieted the Gamecock bats in the bottom half.
In the fourth, Megan Grant and Rylee Slimp reached on consecutive singles for the Bruins. Alexis Ramirez put UCLA on the board with an RBI double, prompting South Carolina to bring in Sam Gress. Sofia Mujica greeted Gress with an RBI single to center, cutting the deficit to 5-2. Fisher then responded with a quick six-pitch inning in the bottom half to hold the margin.
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The Bruins threatened again in the fifth, putting two on with no outs to bring the tying run to the plate. But Gress struck out Jordan Woolery and Grant to end the rally. In the bottom of the inning, Abigail Knight gave South Carolina breathing room with a two-run double to the gap in left-center, restoring a five-run cushion at 7-2.
Gress also continued her dominance in the sixth, retiring three of four batters. The Gamecocks tacked on two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth with RBI singles from Shelton and Winters to make it 9-2.
Gress then shut the door in the seventh. The sixth-year player silenced the Bruins, sealed the win and moved the Gamecocks a game closer to its first Women’s College World Series appearance in over two decades.
South Carolina will seek the Super Regional win on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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