Box Score (PDF)

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina starter Nickie Blue held the potent USC Upstate bats at bay to lead the Gamecocks to a 3-0 victory over the Spartans Tuesday night at Beckham Field.

Upstate fell to 29-7 on the year with the loss. The Spartans will return to action Thursday when it plays host to Gardner-Webb for a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. at Cyrill Stadium. South Carolina improved to 27-15 with the win.

Both teams took a while to get going offensively as Upstate starter Lexi Shubert and South Carolina's Blue kept the bats relatively quiet in the early going. The Spartans got a single in the first but went down in order in each of the second and third innings. South Carolina managed a single in the first two innings. Neither team could do anything with any of the hits.

Shubert was strong through the first three innings. She stranded both base runners who reached in the first and second and tossed a 3-up, 3-down inning in the third.

South Carolina used a rare defensive miscue in the fourth to grab the lead. Ansley Ard led off the inning with a bunt single and advanced all the way to third on a throwing error on the play. One batter later, Kaylea Snaer singled through the right side to score Ard and give the Gamecocks the early lead. South Carolina loaded the bases with two outs, but Shubert got a ground out to get out of the inning without any further damage as the Gamecocks took a 1-0 lead into the fifth.

Shubert tossed out of another jam in the fifth inning to keep the Spartans in the game. South Carolina put runners on first and second with back-to-back singles to start the inning and Ard moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. The Gamecocks loaded the bases with two outs, but Shubert got a foul pop to first to end the inning and keep the score 1-0.

South Carolina added to its lead in the sixth inning. The Gamecocks put runners on first and second with two outs and Kristen Struett singled down the third baseline to score a run and give South Carolina a 2-0 advantage. A wild pitch gave the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead.

The story of the game was Blue for South Carolina. After allowing a one-out single in the first, Blue retired 17 consecutive Spartan batters. She allowed a leadoff single in the seventh to break the string, but did not allow the walk to hurt her. She improved to 13-6 on the year with the win.

Shubert took the loss for Upstate and fell to 21-5 on the year. She allowed three runs on seven hits and an error. She had won her last seven decisions entering the game.