Gamecocks show fight but fall to Arkansas in second round of SEC tourney

Midnight madness is becoming all too common for South Carolina baseball in this SEC tournament — for the second consecutive night, the Gamecocks played into the morning, past 1:30 a.m. central time. This time, however, they lost to Arkansas, 13-8, early Thursday.

After rallying to defeat Missouri on Tuesday, USC (33-23, 17-13) now has one more loss to give in the double-elimination portion of the conference tourney. Coach Mark Kingston's squad will face LSU on Thursday, though that game is scheduled to take place in the early afternoon.

South Carolina struggled from the get-go against the Razorbacks, as freshman starter Logan Chapman struck out the first two batters he faced, but walked the next two, and Arkansas sophomore left fielder Dominic Fletcher launched a 3-1 offering over the right-center field wall to give his team a big early lead.

The Razorbacks added to that lead in the second with a walk and two singles, all with one out. That was enough for Kingston and pitching coach Skylar Meade, who pulled Chapman, replacing him with redshirt freshman TJ Shook. Shook didn't fare much better, however, walking the first batter he faced to load the bases, then giving up a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to make it 6-0.

"Yeah, we need to pitch better than that, clearly," Kingston told reporters after the game. "But the team didn't give up. That's our identity now, I think."

The Gamecocks got their first run of the game in the top of the third as junior Jacob Olson led off with an infield single, then advanced to second as Arkansas pitcher Kacey Murphy committed an error on the throw. A wild pitch put Olson on third, and senior first baseman Matt Williams laid down a sacrifice to score him, while reaching on another throwing error, this time by freshman third baseman Casey Martin.

The Hogs continued to pound away against junior reliever Hunter Lomas in the third and fourth innings, though. After a leadoff walk in the third, Arkansas used back-to-back singles to push one run across. A sacrifice bunt and fly scored another. In the fourth, the Razorbacks got a leadoff single to senior designated hitter Luke Bonfield, then a two-run home run down the left field line to Martin to make it 10-1.

Just as it seemed Arkansas was on the verge of defeating South Carolina by run rule, however, the Gamecocks roared back in the top of the sixth. Three pinch hitters sent to the plate by Kingston walked, reached on an error and walked, with the final base on balls coming with the bases loaded to freshman Danny Blair. Junior shortstop LT Tolbert followed with a no-doubt blast to right field for a grand slam that trimmed the lead to 10-6.

But the Razorbacks came right back, with a solo home run from Martin to make it 11-6 in the bottom of the sixth, then an error, hit by pitch, walk and single to score two more in the seventh inning off freshman reliever Parker Coyne.

USC put up some fight in the top of the ninth, with back-to-back singles from freshmen outfielders Noah Campbell and Kyle Jacobsen, followed by a double from senior Madison Stokes to score one run. Tolbert added another with a single through the left side of the infield, but a double play ended the game.

"We ended up with eight runs, 11 hits, and had the tying run on deck in the ninth, so at the end of the day, that's what's important," Kingston told The Big Spur.

THREE POINTS

Star of the game: LT Tolbert, who went 4-for-5 with five RBIs. He was also one of just a few Carolina position players to stay in for the full game.

Play of the game: Dominic Fletcher's three-run home run in the bottom of the first set the tone for a big offensive night as the Razorbacks not only put up 11 hits but collected nine walks to go with two HBPs, getting on base every possible way.

Stat of the game: 8-for-19 hitting with runners on, including 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and 5-for-13 batting with two outs for Arkansas, for whom timely hitting helped overcome the team's poor defense, which committed five errors.

NEXT

Who: No. 5 South Carolina (33-23, 17-13 SEC) vs. No. 8 LSU (34-24, 15-15 SEC)

When: Approx. 2 p.m. Thursday, May 24

Where: Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Hoover, Alabama

Watch: SEC Network

Listen: 107.5 FM

2018 SEC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT SCORES, SCHEDULE

*All times eastern and all games televised on SEC Network unless otherwise noted

TUESDAY, MAY 22 (Single elimination)

Game 1: No. 11 Texas A&M 3, No. 6 Vanderbilt 1

Game 2: No. 7 Auburn 4, No. 10 Kentucky 3

Game 3: No. 8 LSU 8, No. 9 Mississippi State 5

Game 4: No. 5 South Carolina 4, No. 12 Missouri 2

WEDNESDAY, MAY 23 (Double elimination)

Game 5: No. 11 Texas A&M 7, No. 3 Georgia 0

Game 6: No. 7 Auburn 9, No. 2 Ole Miss 3

Game 7: No. 1 Florida 4, No. 8 LSU 3

Game 8: No. 4 Arkansas 13, No. 5 South Carolina 8

THURSDAY, MAY 24 (Double elimination)

Game 9: No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 2 Ole Miss, 10:30 a.m.

Game 10: No. 8 LSU vs. No. 5 South Carolina, to follow

Game 11: No. 11 Texas A&M vs. No. 7 Auburn, 5:30 p.m.

Game 12: No. 1 Florida vs. No. 4 Arkansas, to follow

FRIDAY, MAY 25 (Double elimination)

Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 loser, 4 p.m.

Game 14: Game 10 winner vs. Game 12 loser, to follow

SATURDAY, MAY 26 (Single elimination)

Game 15: Game 13 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 1 p.m.

Game 16: Game 14 winner vs. Game 12 winner, to follow

SUNDAY, MAY 27 (Championship)

Game 17: Game 15 winner vs. Game 16 winner, 3 p.m. (ESPN2)

This story was originally published May 24, 2018 at 2:32 AM with the headline "Gamecocks show fight but fall to Arkansas in second round of SEC tourney."