South Carolina hangs on to win series finale versus Alabama
The situation couldn’t have been more perfect. Bases loaded with one out and one of the hottest hitters coming up to the plate. South Carolina needed this badly.
On a 1-2 pitch left over the plate, Cole Messina ripped a two-run double down the left field line. After trailing all game long, the Gamecocks had taken the lead in the seventh. And despite Alabama’s best efforts, they would hang on the rest of the way.
In what was a must-win game, No. 18 South Carolina (21-7, 5-4 SEC) picked up a 9-8 win over No. 16 Alabama to avoid a series sweep on Saturday.
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Fresh off his tremendous first start of the year, Tyler Pitzer couldn’t get into the same rhythm as he did before. After getting a double play ball in the second, the right-hander gave up a solo shot to Will Hodo with two outs.
To begin the third, Pitzer left a 1-0 pitch in the zone and Max Grant made him pay with a solo homer to right, the first of his college career. Later in the inning, after giving up a double, Pitzer gave up an RBI single to Ian Petrutz to make it 3-0.
Just when it seemed Pitzer was starting to get some outs, he gave up another two-out solo shot to Hodo, who had taken him deep earlier. This was his second homer of the day, which made it 4-0 in the fourth.
“I thought he held his own,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “We got him out at the right time. Ty Good came in and just gave us everything we wanted.”
Meanwhile, the Gamecocks were unable to hit a beach ball as Alabama left-hander Greg Farone was cruising. After giving up a one-out single in the first, he retired the next 12 batters he faced.
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Then in the fifth, Gavin Casas hit a leadoff single to end the offensive drought. Dylan Brewer followed suit with a two-run homer down the right field line to give the Gamecocks some life.
The bats continued to gain some momentum in the sixth as Messina ripped a one-out single into left. Following him, Kennedy Jones hit a double off the left center field wall. As the relay throw came in from deep short, Messina barely beat the tag to score from first.
South Carolina managed to knock Farone out of the game as it had runners on the corners with one out in the inning. But with Casas at the plate, head coach Mark Kingston opted to have him try and lay down a bunt. After not being able to get it down on the first pitch, Casas proceeded to strike out two pitches later.
One batter later, Brewer struck out looking to kill what could’ve been a big rally.
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But after Messina’s go-ahead hit, the offense continued to put the wheels in motion. With the bases loaded and one out, Ethan Petry ripped a two-run double into left.
One batter later, Casas hit a single into center to plate another run, his second hit of the day. This one capped off an impressive five-run inning to take an 8-4 lead.
“Gavin has been killing lefties and (Tyler) Causey has been killing righties. And so that’s why Gavin got the start today,” Kingston said. “It held true, it held so. He’s swinging the bat better. He went to a no-stride approach, which has made his swing a little bit better.”
While all this was going on, Good was quietly pitching very well out of relief. He ended up tossing three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. He struck out four and walked one.
“Ty was a guy that we could’ve used last night, but we didn’t after we lost the lead,” Kingston said. “It was for this exact reason so he could give us some length today. That was what we needed.”
With a runner on first and no outs in the eighth, the Gamecocks turned to Garrett Gainey to pitch the rest of the way. He got off to a strong start, retiring the side in order.
But in the ninth, he gave up three straight singles to load the bases with nobody out. Alabama would score a run on an RBI groundout to cut the lead down to four. Later in the frame, Gage Miller lined a two-run triple past the diving glove of Petry in right to bring the tying run to the plate.
Not wanting to take any chances, Chris Veach came on to try and get the final out. He’d walk the first batter he faced to put the winning run on first. But after giving up an infield single, TJ McCants was thrown out trying to retreat back to third after going too far off the bag.
Up next: South Carolina heads back to Columbia for the start of a four-game home stand. The Gamecocks will face Georgia Southern on Wednesday night. First pitch is at 7 p.m. on SEC Network.
