Gamecocks use eighth-inning rally to top The Citadel, preserve perfect start
To win 11 games in a row, you need to be good, and you need to be lucky.
South Carolina baseball was a little of both Wednesday night, taking advantage of unearned runs and timely hitting to rally past The Citadel, 11-7, and preserve its perfect start to the season.
A big six-run eighth inning proved the difference, erasing a one-run deficit and piling on some insurance. Senior infielder Joe Satterfield and sophomore infielder Brennan Milone put the No. 12 Gamecocks (11-0) in business with a double and walk, respectively, and after the Bulldogs couldn’t convert a double-play opportunity and settled for a fielder’s choice, junior outfielder Brady Allen ripped a single up the middle to tie the score.
Sophomore outfielder Braylen Wimmer tagged a double to left to put USC ahead, followed by an RBI single from junior Josiah Sightler. A two-run double from senior outfielder Andrew Eyster completed the outburst, with the Citadel right fielder whiffing on the catch at the wall.
Prior to that inning, the Gamecocks had had just three hits but had kept pace with the Bulldogs in large part due to a four-run third inning. Satterfield walked, Milone doubled and Allen walked to load the bases with two outs, when junior slugger Wes Clarke sent a routine ground ball that seemed set to end the frame. Instead, shortstop Brooks O’Brien flubbed the catch, allowing a run to score.
Sightler followed with a double to score two more, and a wild pitch put USC up 4-2 early with all four runs unearned. Allen added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to score Satterfield.
The Citadel, meanwhile, did manage to hit the Gamecocks pitching staff well early — Sightler got the start and went down quickly when the very first pitch he threw in the first inning was smacked by senior Jeffery Brown for an infield single. A double put runners on second and third, and a bloop single scored one run. A double play got Sightler out of the jam but allowed another run to score.
The Bulldogs added another run to narrow the gap to 5-4 in the fourth inning off a leadoff triple and RBI groundout, before taking the lead in the sixth off a two-run home run. That set the stage for South Carolina to rally from its first eighth-inning deficit of the year, and redshirt junior reliever Andy Peters closed the victory out with 2 2/3 innings of one-hit ball.
With the win, the Gamecocks surpassed their 10-0 start in 2016 and now have their hottest start to a season since 2014, when they opened 16-0.
NEXT USC BASEBALL GAME
Who: No. 12 South Carolina vs. No. 19 Texas
When: 7:30 p.m., Friday
Where: UFCU Disch-Falk Field, Austin, Texas
Watch: Longhorn Network
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 9:46 PM.
