South Carolina flails to shutout loss to Alabama in Game 1 of doubleheader
South Carolina coach Mark Kingston said it Tuesday after his team upset No. 3 NC State — momentum in baseball is all about your next pitcher.
On Friday, the Gamecocks lost all their momentum as Alabama rocked freshman starter Daniel Lloyd early in Game 1 of a doubleheader and cruised from there to a 9-0 victory.
USC (18-12, 2-8 SEC), meanwhile, was mystified by Tide starter Sam Finnerty, who needed just 79 pitches to go the entire game, surrendering four hits but no walks or runs in a masterful performance.
‘Bama shot out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, making Lloyd labor through 33 pitches in his first frame. Junior Kolby Robinson led things off with an infield single and came around to score on a ground ball single through the right side of the infield from junior Morgan McCullough.
Another infield single put two runners aboard for a double from junior Brett Auerbach that sailed just out of reach of freshman left fielder Brady Allen and cleared the bases.
Alabama extended its lead in the bottom half of the frame as Lloyd continued to flounder, walking the leadoff batter, hitting another and advancing both with a wild pitch. A line drive single to right scored one run, and sophomore Tyler Gentry then blasted a grand slam to left to make the score 8-0.
Freshman T.J. Reeves connected for a solo blast in the third inning to extend the rout, as Mark Kingston left Lloyd in the game, seemingly wary of depleting his bullpen ahead of a long day with two games. Junior reliever Cole Ganopulos came in for Lloyd in the fourth and halted the bleeding, throwing a season-high four shutout frames. Sophomore Parker Coyne then came in and worked a scoreless eighth.
On offense, the Gamecocks got a pair of hits from junior shortstop George Callil and doubles from sophomore catcher Luke Berryhill and senior third baseman Jacob Olson but nothing else. All told, Carolina averaged just 2.63 pitches per hitter, making Finnerty’s job easy and efficient in the team’s second shutout loss of the year.
The Gamecocks and Crimson Tide will return to Sewell-Thomas Stadium at 7 p.m. eastern for Game 2 of their doubleheader.
This story was originally published April 5, 2019 at 4:54 PM.
