South Carolina allows most runs in a game since 1997 in blowout loss to Vanderbilt
South Carolina baseball’s lineup, so anemic throughout SEC play, came to life Friday against Vanderbilt for its highest run total against a conference opponent this season.
Those runs, however, were nowhere near enough as the No. 4 Commodores took advantage of a severely depleted Gamecock pitching staff to rout USC, 22-11, at Founders Park.
In a marathon 4:25 game, Carolina (24-21, 5-17 SEC) saw a 5-1 lead after three innings evaporate in a hurry as Vandy posted seven runs in the fourth inning, nine in the sixth and five in the seventh. The 22 runs allowed mark the most in program history since a 30-7 loss to Arkansas in 1997.
Carolina has now lost eight consecutive SEC series openers and tied the program record for most league losses in a season with eight SEC games still to play.
Early on, senior center fielder TJ Hopkins and sophomore catcher Luke Berryhill led the Gamecocks’ offensive attack against Vandy junior ace Drake Fellows. Hopkins had a bloop RBI single in the first and an infield hit in the second, while Berryhill had a sharp RBI single in the first and a two-run home run in the second that scored Hopkins. Junior shortstop George Callil added a bases-loaded walk.
Vanderbilt’s offense responded in the fourth, however, with plenty of help from Gamecock pitching. Freshman starter Daniel Lloyd loaded the bases with a walk, hit and hit batsman, before giving up a pair of singles to make the score 5-4.
Lloyd was replaced by freshman Dylan Harley, who gave up a two-run double to sophomore third baseman Austin Martin and a two-run home run to junior right fielder JJ Bleday.
“We’re down to 10 pitchers this weekend and we can’t afford to take guys out too quick,” coach Mark Kingston said of his reluctance to pull his young pitchers from the game when they first showed signs of struggling. “It’s just the way it is.”
The Gamecocks briefly the tied game back up on a three-run home run from senior third baseman Jacob Olson in the bottom of the fourth.
Harley imploded in the sixth, however, walking two and hitting the third batter without recording an out. He was replaced by junior Cole Ganopulos, who immediately threw a wild pitch, then gave up a walk and double to score three runs. After another walk, Ganopulos was lifted for junior Gage Hinson, who gave up a walk, sacrifice fly and four singles to push the score to 17-8.
“We didn’t get outs. Guys were out there, they had opportunities and they didn’t get outs,” coach Mark Kingston said. “There’s no secret there.”
Hinson returned in the seventh, loaded the bases and walked in a run before being replaced by sophomore Parker Coyne, who gave up a grand slam to senior Julian Infante to cap the rout. The Gamecocks managed three runs late as Kingston emptied his bench.
“I told them we have Reid Morgan on the mound tomorrow and we had 11 runs on 12 hits,” Kingston said of his message to the team after the game. “So we have a combination like that, we can come out and play good baseball.”
Next: South Carolina and Vanderbilt will play Game 2 of their series Saturday starting at 8 p.m., televised on ESPNU. Before the game, Gamecock legend Earl Bass will have his jersey retired in a ceremony.
This story was originally published May 3, 2019 at 11:27 PM.
