We’re good again! (For now!)
South Carolina beat Alabama 11-5 on Saturday to lock up their first series sweep in conference play this season and extend their winning streak to three games.
The Tide got on the board first, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to a flyout by Drew Williamson and a William Hamiter double. The lead was short-lived though, as the Gamecocks answered in the bottom of the inning. Brandt Belk started things off with a walk, Kevin Madden doubled, and Andrew Eyster singled with one out to score them both, tying the game at 2-2. Michael Braswell then doubled with two outs to get Eyster in and put the home team up 3-2.
USC added two more runs in the third inning, when Josiah Sightler led off with a base hit and Eyster went yard to make it a 5-2 game. The Cocks then tacked on three more insurance runs in the fourth. Evan Stone got hit by a pitch to start things off, Belk singled, and Sightler got hit by a pitch too to load the bases with one out. Eyster follwed with a groundout that brought Stone home to make it 6-2, then Talmadge LeCroy knocked a two-run base hit to bump the score to 8-2. Carolina scored another run in the next inning, when Stone got hit by a pitch again and later came home on a single from Madden, making it 9-2.
Alabama scored their only other runs of the game in the sixth courtesy of a homer by Dominic Tamez that made the score 9-5. The Gamecocks got into double digits in the seventh when Madden led off with a single and later scored on a double by Eyster to make it 10-5, then the final run came in the eighth when Braylen Wimmer singled to start things off and came home on a flyout by Belk.
South Carolina starter Will Sanders worked seven innings and allowed seven hits and five runs. He walked two batters, struck out eight, and got the win, making him 6-2. Crimson Tide starter Grayson Hitt (sidenote: unfortch name for a pitcher) went two innings and gave up five hits and five runs. He walked two batters, struck three out, and took the loss, making him 4-2. Madden, Eyster, and Wimmer led the Cocks at the plate with three hits each, and Eyster also tallied six RBI. Andrew Pinckney paced Alabama at the plate with three hits, while Tamez recorded three RBI.
USC is now 22-20 overall and 9-12 in the SEC, while the Tide are 25-20 overall and 9-12 in conference play. The Gamecocks will be back in action on Wednesday against North Carolina A&T, with first pitch set for 7 p.m. at Founders Park.