No. 12 Ole Miss vs. No. 1 South Carolina, game 2 recap: Gamecocks rally to beat Rebels, 5-4

In the first game of today's doubleheader, South Carolina looked to be headed for their second straight loss. Instead, a ninth inning rally and subsequent tenth inning walkoff single gave the Gamecocks a 5-4 victory and tied the series with the Ole Miss.

The Rebels took an early lead, going up 1-0 in the first inning thanks to an RBI double from Will Allen. After a quiet second inning on both sides, Ole Miss added three runs of insurance in the third. Marcus Mooney was charged with an error, Jack Wynkoop plunked Austin Anderson, and Allen came through with another RBI double. Preston Overbey followed that with an RBI sac fly to put Ole Miss on top 4-0.

The USC offense was pretty much missing in action until the sixth inning, when the shutout finally ended. Joey Pankake singled with one out, Kyle Martin doubled, and Grayson Greiner walked to fill the bases with Gamecocks. Unfortunately, they only got one run out of it, courtesy of an RBI fielder's choice from Weber Pike.

Carolina threatened in the bottom of the seventh, but left two runners stranded instead. The Rebels looked to add to their lead even more in the eighth, but some stellar defense by Elliott Caldwell accounted for two plays at the plate to rob Ole Miss of potential runs.

The Gamecocks needed a rally in the bottom of the ninth, and they got one Mooney singled with one out, Tanner English hit into a fielder's choice and made it to second on a throwing error, and Connor Bright contributed an RBI single to make it 4-2. Then Max Schrock, who was expected not to play due to his ankle injury came in to pinch hit and belted a two-out, two-run homer that tied the game at 4-4.

That gave way to bonus baseball. Closer Joel Seddon got out of a tenth inning jam, and then USC completed the comeback. Greiner led off with a single, pinch hitter Jordan Gore hit into a fielder's choice to advance Greiner, and Brison Celek, also pinch-hitting, roped a walkoff RBI single to give the Gamecocks the win.

Early in the game, pitching was just as much of a problem today as the lack of offense was. Much like Montgomery was off yesterday and Wynkoop struggled today. He lasted just three innings and gave up seven hits, four runs, no walks, hit a batter, and struck one out. That being said, Reed Scott, who pitched the remaining six innings, was very impressive. He allowed just three hits, no runs, issued no walks, and tallied six Ks. Seddon earned the win, his first of the season.

Rebels starter Christian Trent worked six innings and surrendered six hits, one run, walked a batter, and struck out five. Ole Miss used six more pitchers in the final four innings.

Bright, Caldwell, Pankake, Mooney, and English all recorded two hits for USC today, while Braxton Lee and Allen had three each for the Rebels.

The final game of the series will begin at 6:45 p.m. and Wil Crowe will start on the mound for Carolina.