South Carolina Gamecocks make No. 1 spot on SportsCenter Top 10
By Kevin Miller
The South Carolina Gamecocks won their first NCAA Tournament game on Friday when they came out on top in a pitcher's duel over the Utah Utes. The 2-1 victory kept USC in the winner's bracket heading into Saturday, but they couldn't stay there after running into the Regional host Duke Blue Devils. However, though, the Gamecocks didn't win the game, they did earn another honor against Duke.
When the game was still tight, Duke catcher Kelly Torres drove a Bailey Betenbaugh pitch deep to left field. The fly ball was heading out of the ball park when, all of a sudden, Gamecock left fielder Marissa Gonzalez leaped up and brought it back from over the fence. The junior held on and completed the catch, securing the first out of the inning.
Unfortunately, the play didn't spark enough momentum behind the Carolina effort for a comeback win, but it did get some impressive national recognition.
In the Sunday morning edition of ESPN's SportsCenter, the Gonzalez grab was featured as one of Saturday's top plays across sports. It was not the first time this spring a Gamecock on the diamond had made SportsCenter's Top 10 as South Carolina baseball's Austin Brinling cracked the top-5 with a home run robbery of his own against the Missouri Tigers. However, Brinling's was not #1 on the list, and that is where Gonzalez found herself on Sunday morning.
The Gamecocks have made it to the top spot in the Top 10 several times before, most famously when South Carolina football star Jadeveon Clowney delivered "The Hit" against the Michigan Wolverines in the Outback Bowl.
South Carolina softball will play again on Sunday to try to keep their postseason going. The Utah Utes (a team Carolina beat in both the regular season and earlier in Regional play) await them this afternoon. The winner will have a crack at Duke but must beat the Blue Devils twice in a row to advance to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament.