The first one is always the hardest to get.
South Carolina softball, an elite team with the No. 8 national seed, has had a problem winning series openers all year. In fact, it lost six out of eight SEC series openers.
But to open up the first Columbia regional — the first postseason softball in Columbia since 2018 — the Gamecocks shook off some early jitters and beat Elon 5-2 to advance to the winner’s bracket.
"We got off to a slow start there a little bit in the first and second," head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard said. "But I thought the offense looked really good in the bottom of the first. We stayed confident; we trusted the plan."
South Carolina (41-15) will play North Florida tomorrow at 1 p.m. for a spot in the regional final after the Ospreys upset Virginia 2-1 in the first game of the day at Beckham FIeld.
Elon took a quick 1-0 lead with three consecutive singles to open the game off South Carolina starter Nealy Lamb, but Lamb responded with three straight strikeouts to escape the inning down just a run.
Then her offense picked her up, and quickly.
The Gamecocks responded with three runs in the first inning, taking a lead they never relinquished all night. Catcher Lexi Winters hit a ground ball with two runners in scoring position that Elon shortstop Lani Wyrick couldn’t field, allowing two runs to score. Brooke Blankenship tacked on an RBI double, setting the tone with the three-run frame.
But Lamb never quite found her groove, allowing another run in the second inning and departing after recording only five outs. Jori Heard got the call with two runners in scoring position and a one run lead.
"I felt really good" Heard said. "I'm very grateful for the people I have around me. The defense I have me is so amazing, and I trust them."
She stranded the pair with a strikeout to end the second inning, then took over. Heard fired 5 1/3 innings of shutout ball, carrying the pitching staff all the way to the finish line. Heard retired the side in order in the third, fourth, sixth and seventh innings, allowing one two-out single in the fifth inning as the only speck on an otherwise flawless line.
"It's huge," Chastain Woodard said on Heard's performance. "Jori's stuff is good. It was really good tonight, it was really good game one against Alabama at the SEC Tournament. I think she feels good, she looks fresh. She was throwing really hard tonight and throwing both sides of the plate."
Slugger Arianna Rodi provided just enough insurance for Heard to pitch comfortably when she clubbed her school-record extending 17th home run of the season out to center field in the third inning, a two-run shot that took the advantage out to 5-2.
“I was just trying to keep it as simple as possible,” Rodi said. "Just a strike over the plate. In this regional we haven’t seen anything that we haven’t seen all year, so just keeping it as simple as possible is the recipe for success.”
Her coach had a simpler explanation.
"Just Rodi doing Rodi things," Chastain Woodard said with a big smile.
A quick 1-2-3 seventh inning ended the game without any drama, and the Gamecocks safely secured the first victory of the weekend.
*******************************************************************************************
Looking to continue the conversation? Join us on the insider's forum to talk all things South Carolina athletics
