USC recorded its second run rule victory in as many games
No. 16 South Carolina trounced Georgia in a run rule-shortened content for the second game in a row, winning 12-2 and earning a series sweep to open conference play.
The Gamecocks wasted no time getting on the board, taking a 1-0 lead when Will McGillis lead off the game with a homer. USC broke things open in the third, scoring five runs. McGillis again started the inning off with a solo shot, pushing the score to 2-0. With one out, Gavin Casas got hit by a pitch and Cole Messina walked, and with two outs, Carson Hornung walked too to load the bases. Talmadge LeCroy then walked too, forcing in a run and making the score 3-0, and Caleb Denny and Will Tippett followed with a pair of singles that brought three more runs in, making it 6-0.
In the fourth, Casas went yard to start the inning and put the Cocks up 7-0. More runs came in the sixth, when McGillis and Casas walked, and Messina, Ethan Petry, and Hornung all came through with run-scoring singles to make it 10-0. The Bulldogs’ only run of the game also came in that inning, courtesy of a homer by Charlie Condon that made the score 10-1. Carolina’s final runs of the game came in the seventh, when McGillis walked with one out and Casas went yard again with two outs.
Gamecocks starter Jack Mahoney worked six innings, allowing six hits and one run. He walked one batter, struck out six, and earned the win, improving to 3-0. James Hicks also pitched in this game. UGA starter Charlie Goldstein went 2.2 innings and gave up three hits and five runs. He issued three walks, struck six batters out, and took the loss, making him 0-1.
McGillis and Casas paced South Carolina at the plate with two hits each, and Casas also recorded three RBI. Condon had two hits to lead the Dawgs and tallied the only RBI.
The Cocks improve to 20-1 overall and 3-0 in the SEC, while Georgia is now 13-7 on the season and 0-3 in conference play. USC will be back in action on Tuesday, when they go on the road to play Charlotte. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.