South Carolina softball knocks off Cal State Fullerton in the middle of the night to stay alive in NCAA Tournament

South Carolina softball lost their spot in the LA Regional’s winners bracket earlier on Saturday with a loss to UCLA. But late into the night (and into Sunday morning), the Gamecocks earned their way into the regional final.

Thanks to some timely hits and a great relief outing in the circle from Emma Friedel following up a Jori Heard start, Ashley Chastain Woodard’s group defeated Cal State Fullerton by a score of 3-2. The team’s second win over the Titans in the regional pushed USC to Sunday.

The Carolina victory was not a comfortable one. It appeared as if several failed runners-in-scoring-position chances would come back to bite the Gamecocks. Instead, the offense did just enough to back up Heard and Friedel.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina softball!

South Carolina got the scoring started in the third inning but only managed to push across one run after loading the bases with no outs. Then, after Fullerton took the lead, another bases-loaded chance yielded zero runs.

In the fifth inning, however, the Gamecocks broke through for some much-needed runs. A Karley Shelton double scored Quincee Lilio to tie the score. Then, a Lexi Winters blooper brought home Shelton. When Tate Davis’s 7th-inning double scored another run, USC went up 4-2.

Arguably the biggest moment of the game came in the bottom of the fifth with the Gamecocks leading 3-2. With runners on second and third, Fullerton’s offense had Friedel laboring a bit. The Gamecock pitcher unleashed a wild pitch that got past a leaping Winters behind the plate. Winters quickly retrieved the bouncing ball off the backstop and tagged the sliding runner at the plate to end the threat.

With all due respect to the contributions from Winters, Shelton, Lilio, and Davis, Emma Friedel was South Carolina’s top performer against Cal State Fullerton. Though she came into the game with a deficit and a runner on base, she didn’t flinch. In 3.1 innings of relief, she allowed just two hits and zero runs. Friedel held Fullerton at bay, giving her offense time to come back. She struck out four of her 12 hitters faced.

Behind Friedel, the Gamecocks (32-27) beat the Titans (41-15) for the second time in the regional, sending them home while keeping their own season alive.

Up next: South Carolina will take on UCLA at least once on Sunday. First, the Gamecocks and Bruins will do battle at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern).

If USC wins the first game, they will force a winner-take-all regional final that will take place approximately 35 minutes after the conclusion of the first contest.

The winner of the Los Angeles Regional will move on to face the winner of the Tallahassee Regional in the super regional round.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina softball!