COLUMBIA – On Wednesday, Coastal Carolina and South Carolina met in an inter-conference match-up at the Carolina Softball Stadium. The Chanticleers seventh inning rally came up short, ultimately falling to the No. 13 Gamecocks 7-4 and dropping to 12-3 on the season.

In the top of the seventh, the Chanticleers put their first two batters on base with walks and then freshman Sydney Guess came through with her third hit of the game as she hit the ball up the middle off of reliever Cayla Drotar, scoring junior Kassidy Smith. Sophomore Stavi Augur then reached on a fielder's choice to load up the bases, but Drotar was able to retire the next three Coastal batters earning her second save of the season.

Smith led off the top of first for CCU as she took a 1-0 pitch from Gamecock starter Karly Heath to give her team an early 1-0 lead.

Coastal picked another run in the second inning as Samantha Sack got on with a two out walk. Next batter senior Alexis Alvino lifted the ball over the right fielder Alexis Lindsey's head for a triple that brought Sack all the way around from first.

The Gamecocks took 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third as Kenzi Maguire led off with a double and Mackenzie Boesel reached on an error by Coastal second baseman Stavi Augur. Two batters later, Drotar took starter Kaitlin Beasley-Polko's pitch over the left field fence.

South Carolina tacked on four more in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-2 lead highlighted by Maguire's three-run homer.

Coastal added a run in the top of the fifth as sophomore Courtney Dean added her fifth home run of season when she took Drotar's 2-1 pitch over the right center field fence.

Guess led Coastal Carolina at the plate as she went 3-for-3, a double, and a walk.

Beasley-Polko went the first three innings for the Chants dropping to 7-2 on the season. The sophomore allowed six hits, seven runs, six earned, and one strike out.

Senior Ashley Guillette gave Coastal Carolina a chance in her three innings of relief, giving up just one hit on no runs.

Coastal Carolina will return to the field on Friday as they host the Chanticleer Showdown. Games for the tournament start at 9:30 a.m., but CCU will be in action starting at 2:00 (Radford)/4:15 p.m. (Jacksonville)

For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSB (twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.