This season stays annoying
South Carolina had another disappointing finish to a game on Saturday, rallying midway through the game against Auburn only to blow a lead and end up losing 8-6.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning with help from an error, and another mistake by the Gamecocks helped Auburn go up 2-0 in the next inning. They then went up 3-0 in the fifth on a Brooks Carlson single. USC ended the shutout and tied the game in the sixth inning. Brandt Belk walked to start things off, Josiah Sightler got hit by a pitch with one out, and then Braylen Wimmer went yard for three runs with two outs, making it a 3-3 game.
The Cocks added another run in the next inning, taking a 4-3 lead when Michael Braswell doubled with one out and later scored on a single from Kevin Madden. Later in the inning, Madden and Colin Burgess, who had walked, came home on a base hit by Sightler to make it 6-3.
Unfortunately, it was the Tigers’ turn to rally in the bottom of the seventh. They tied the game and then regained the lead courtesy of a bases loaded walk, a base hit by Bobby Peirce, a fly out from Brody Moore, and a Nate LaRue single, making the score 7-6 when it was all said and done. The final run of the game came in the eighth on a solo shot by Cole Foster.
Carolina starter Noah Hall pitched 6.1 innings and gave up nine hits and six runs. He walked two batters and struck out five. Matthew Becker and Parker Coyne combined to go the rest of the way for the Gamecocks, and Becker took the loss, making him 1-3. Auburn reliever Carson Swilling earned the win and is now 1-2, and Blake Burkhalter got the save, his 10th. Sightler, Wimmer, and Carson Hornung each tallied two hits for USC, and Wimmer tallied three RBI. Carlson and Sonny Dichiara recorded two hits each for the Tigers, while Carlson and LaRue notched two RBI apiece.
USC is now 19-19 overall and 6-11 in conference play, while Auburn is 28-12 overall and 10-7 in the SEC. The Cocks will try to avoid being swept on Sunday, with first pitch set for 2 p.m.