Brown vs No. 3 South Carolina, game 1 final score: Gamecocks shut out Bears 13-0

It was all South Carolina in the first game of today's doubleheader against Brown, as the Gamecocks shut out the Bears 13-0.

USC took an early lead, putting up four runs in the second inning. Connor Bright led off with a double, Grayson Greiner followed that with a single, and Brison Celek came through with an RBI single to get Bright home. Elliott Caldwell followed that with an RBI double to make it 2-0, and DC Arendas roped a one-out double with the bases loaded to make it 4-0. They had a chance to do even more damage, but instead left the bases loaded to end the inning.

While the Brown offense remained quiet, the Gamecocks padded their lead in the fifth inning. After Bright and Grayson Greiner singled and Brison Celek walked to fill the bases, Caldwell contributed a sac fly to put USC up 5-0. With two outs, Arendas came through with another two-RBI single to make it 7-0 in favor of the home team.

The Carolina offense didn't let up, adding five more runs in the next inning. Martin led off the sixth with a walk, Bright doubled for the second time, and Greiner brought Martin home with a single. Caldwell smoked a two-RBI double to put South Carolina in the double digits, then Arendas and Pankake tallied back-to-back RBI singles to put the Gamecocks up 12-0.

Brock Maxwell collected the first hit and first RBI of his career in the eighth inning when he increased the score to 13-0, and that score held until the end of the game.

The Bears were overmatched pretty thoroughly for the whole game, which is fairly unsurprising, especially considering this was their first game of the season. The blowout allowed Chad Holbrook to really clear his bench, though, which gave some guys who haven't gotten a ton of work this season a nice opportunity to get some playing time.

Jordan Montgomery worked 5.1 innings for South Carolina and gave up four hits, no runs, no walks, and tallied eight K's. He earned the win, his third of the season. Reed Scott, Matthew Vogel, and John Parke went the rest of the way on the mound and preserved the shutout for the Gamecocks.

Brown starter Anthony Galan lasted 4.1 innings and allowed nine hits, seven runs, walked three batters and struck out three. He took the loss and falls to 0-1.

USC recorded 18 total hits today, a season high. Bright has now hit safely in all 13 games this season, and he and Greiner also have six multi-hit games. Arendas had a career day, as he went 3-for-5 at the plate with five RBI. Defensively, Marcus Mooney made a couple of web gem-worthy plays in the field.

The Gamecocks improve to 13-0 while the Bears are 0-1 on the season. The second game of today's doubleheader will begin at 5:35 p.m.