Gamecocks rally late to sweep Tennessee
South Carolina rallied to sweep Tennessee on Saturday, winning its fourth consecutive game, 6-3, and recovering some much-needed momentum in the SEC.
"That game today, that's why I came to South Carolina, that's why I wanted to become a Gamecock," coach Mark Kingston said.
With the win, USC (17-11, 4-5 SEC) completed a move from last place in the seven-team SEC East to begin the series into a tie for fourth. It did so with a late, sustained rally after poor hitting in scoring opportunities in the early going.
The Gamecocks did get on the scoreboard first, when sophomore left fielder Carlos Cortes lofted a sacrifice fly in the third inning to score junior shortstop LT Tolbert. But the Gamecocks were 1-8 with runners in scoring position through the first five innings, stranding six runners.
Meanwhile, Tennessee struck back in the top of the fourth, drawing two walks off junior starter Ridge Chapman. Sophomore Andre Lipcius then followed with a double flared down the left field line, scoring both runners, and scored on a single three batters later.
Facing a 3-1 deficit, Kingston said he was proud of how his team responded.
"When we fell behind, I just didn't get the sense of, 'Oh no, here we go again.' I felt like we could steady the ship, guys would keep playing and the game would come back to us. And that's exactly what happened," Kingston said.
The Gamecocks got one run back in the bottom of the sixth when Cortes scored on an RBI groundout from junior Chris Cullen. Cullen, who primarily plays catcher, shifted to third base for the first time in his college career on Saturday because of injuries, and he responded with a clean day fielding, as well as an RBI and walk.
"I took some reps over there this week, during practices, during pregame, just to get some groundballs," Cullen said. "And unfortunately we had some injuries this weekend, and I just stepped up and did what I can."
In the seventh, South Carolina tied the game up as Tolbert walked, Jonah Bride was hit by a pitch and senior Matt Williams singled to load the bases. Sophomore Riley Hogan fell behind 1-2, then took three straight balls to walk the tying run home.
In the eighth, freshman center fielder Kyle Jacobsen, who entered the game as a defensive replacement, singled, then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Junior right fielder Jacob Olson then smoked a fly ball into the right-field gap for a double, scoring Jacobsen and taking the lead.
Olson was just 2-14 in the series, but Kingston said his go-ahead double was the well-deserved culmination of Olson's hard work.
"Maybe statistically he's been scuffling, but he's been hitting a ton of balls hard. He's been our unluckiest hitter in terms of hitting balls hard, and they're just waiting to catch them," Kingston said. "He's a guy that battles. That was a huge at-bat. A huge at-bat."
Williams then added a pair of valuable insurance runs with another double, with junior Eddy Demurias coming on to finish the ninth.
"Coming off of getting swept last week, I think we really made a statement this week by coming out and playing hard and being down guys but still playing — showing grit, showing heart; I thought that was really impressive," Bride said.
Injury update: Junior Madison Stokes, who has missed several games with a hamstring injury, made a brief appearance pinch hitting in the sixth inning. He was retired on a soft line drive to short and did not play the field.
Senior Justin Row, who hurt his knee Friday when a Tennessee player slid into him on a double play, had an MRI that came back clean. He is still day-to-day, Kingston said.
THREE POINTS
Star of the game: Jonah Bride, who went 2-3 with a run, a walk and a HBP to extend his hit streak to seven games, the longest active streak on the team
Play of the game: Riley Hogan's bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh not only tied the game, it made up for a rough day in which he left four runners on base, a statistic that surely would have haunted him had the Gamecocks lost. It was also just his third walk on the season in 26 plate appearances.
Stat of the game: 5 1/3 scoreless innings from South Carolina's bullpen, which had a few tense moments but kept the Gamecocks in the game as the offense sputtered through the first half
NEXT
What: South Carolina vs. North Carolina
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: BB&T Ballpark, Charlotte, N.C.
Probable pitchers: USC — Fr. RHP Logan Chapman (2-0, 3.60 ERA); UNC — Jr. RHP Rodney Hutchinson (3-1 4.66 ERA)
Watch: SEC Network
Listen: 107.5 FM
This story was originally published March 31, 2018 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Gamecocks rally late to sweep Tennessee."