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The Gamecocks were on the board first in Saturday's game, taking a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Elliott Caldwell led off with a single, then Alex Destino followed with a two-run blast, his fourth of the season.
That score held until the fourth, when the Wildcats scored their first run of the day. Ka'ai Tom started things off with a double, JaVon Shelby singled, and Storm Wilson got hit to load the bases. A double play helped South Carolina, but Marcus Carson came through for UK with an RBI double, making it 2-1. Fortunately, that was all they got in the inning.
South Carolina put up their only other runs of the day in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kyle Martin walked, then came home on a two-run shot from Caldwell, the first home run of his career as a Gamecock.
The Wildcats made things interesting in the eighth inning, though. Evan White led off with a single, and with one out, Shelby got plunked to put runners on the corners. Wilson hit a sac fly that got White home, and that was followed by an RBI single from Thomas Bernal that made the score 4-3.
While the offensive output in this game wasn't as impressive as it was in the first game of the series, it was nice to see Destino and Caldwell contribute in a big way.
Pitching was again a strength for South Carolina in this game, as Jack Wynkoop had a very impressive outing. He worked into the eighth inning and earned the win, improving to 4-1 on the season. Taylor Widener took over for him and went the rest of the way, getting his sixth save this year. Kentucky starter Dustin Beggs took the loss and drops to 2-2 on the season.
Errors were, unfortunately, an issue for the Gamecocks again. While they have yet to really hurt South Carolina too much so far, it's still discouraging to keep seeing mistakes being made in the field, and it seems as though it's probably only a matter of time until one of these mistakes directly impacts the outcome of a game.
The Gamecocks improve to 16-3 overall and 2-0 in SEC play, while the Wildcats fall to 13-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play. South Carolina will look to pull off the series sweep on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Carolina Stadium, and Clarke Schmidt is expected to start on the mound for the home team.