South Carolina hangs on top Tennessee 7-6 in series opener
L.T. Tolbert homered and drove in three runs, and South Carolina survived a shaky performance from its bullpen to defeat Tennessee 7-6 on Friday at Founders Park.
The Gamecocks maintain a first-place tie with Florida, which defeated Mississippi State 8-2.
“We feel very fortunate to win the game,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said. “Tennessee battled and competed. “SEC wins are hard to get and we feel fortunate to get this one.”
USC (26-5, 8-2) led 7-2 after six innings, but the Volunteers scored four runs off relievers Brandon Murray and Tyler Johnson in the seventh to pull within 7-6. Tennessee had the bases loaded in the eighth, but Lexington’s Josh Reagan got Max Bartlett to ground out and end the inning.
The Vols had the tying run at third in the ninth and Reagan intentionally walked Nick Senzel, one of the top hitters in the SEC. Reagan got Vincent Jackson to fly out to end the game. The left-hander pitched two innings to pick up his ninth save of the season.
“We don’t back down from a battle and we aren’t going to fold at the end,” Reagan said. “We are going to scrap to the end and we came out on top.”
Holbrook said Reagan would likely be unavailable for Saturday’s game because he went two innings.
Clarke Schmidt (7-1) went six innings and struck out 10 to pick up the win. The right-hander threw 115 pitches and ran into his share of trouble but was able to bounce back from his first loss of the season.
Holbrook thought one of the key moments was in the fifth when Tennessee scored to pull within 3-2 and had runners on second and third with no outs. Schmidt retired the next three batters and USC scored three times in bottom of the fifth to take a 6-2 lead.
“Clarke threw some of the best pitches he threw all night,” Holbrook said. “That was a big part of the game for me.”
Right fielder T.J. Hopkins was 1-for-3 with a two-run single in the fifth inning for the Gamecocks.
Jordan Rodgers was 3-for-5 with two RBIs for Tennessee.
BOX SCORE: South Carolina 7, Tennessee 6
THREE POINTS
Star of the game: Reagan. The left-hander proved to be up to the task by pitching out of jams in both of his innings for the save.
Play of the game: With USC leading 7-6, Tennessee had the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the eight. Gamecocks catcher Chris Cullen made a nice play on Bartlett’s dribbler to left of the plate and Tolbert stretched at first to get the final out of the inning.
Stat of the game: Tennessee left 16 runners on base.
OBSERVATIONS
Shaky pen: The Gamecocks are going to need a better performance from their middle relief on nights when starters aren’t going seven or eight innings.
Keeping pressure on: Tennessee did its best to put pressure on USC defense. They had seven infield hits in the game, which led to several tough situations for the Gamecocks’ pitching.
Ouch: Gamecocks third baseman Jonah Bride was hit by a pitch for the 15th time on the season.
NEXT
What: South Carolina vs. Tennessee, Game 2
When: 4 p.m. Saturday, April 9
Where: Founders Park
Probable pitchers: USC, Braden Webb (Fr. RHP 6-1, 1.70 ERA) vs. Tennessee, Zach Warren (So. LHP 4-2, 2.98 ERA)
Watch: SEC Network Plus (Digital)
Radio: 107.5 FM in the Columbia area
This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 10:52 PM with the headline "South Carolina hangs on top Tennessee 7-6 in series opener."