No. 2 South Carolina vs. No. 22 Tennessee, game 1 recap: Gamecocks beat Vols 3-2

The Gamecocks and Vols met this afternoon to finish the game they started yesterday, but had to halt in the top of the 12th inning because of rain.

The 12th and 13th innings were scoreless, with each team doing pretty much nothing offensively. Things got interesting when UT threatened in the 14th, with runners on the corners and just one out. They couldn't cash in, though, and Carolina escaped without any damage.

Elliott Caldwell led off the bottom of the inning with a groundout, then Jordan Gore decided enough was enough. The freshman, in his first at-bat of the series, came through with a walk-off home run to push the Gamecocks past the Vols.

Jordan Montgomery, who started Friday night, had a much better outing than his past few, an encouraging sign. He worked seven innings and allowed four hits, one run, walked two batters and struck out six. Cody Mincey and Joel Seddon also pitched for USC on Friday night, and Jack Wynkoop was on the mound for Saturday afternoon's portion of the game. He earned the win and improves to 5-1 on the season. He will also start the second game of the series, set to begin around 5:20 p.m.

Nick Williams was Tennessee's Friday starter, and he lasted 7.2 innings, gave up eight hits, two runs, issued no walks, tallied five K's, and had a wild pitch. Andy Cox and Trevor Bettencourt also pitched for the Volunteers, and Bettencourt took the loss, dropping to 0-1 on the season.

Martin and Caldwell led the Gamecocks with three hits apiece, while A.J Simcox, Taylor Smart, and David Houser each had three to pace UT.

South Carolina improves to 21-3 (4-3 in the SEC), while Tennessee drops to 19-5 (3-4 in conference play).