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The Gamecocks rallied to beat the Aggies Friday night, starting this weekend's series off with a big win.
Texas A&M was on the board first, taking a two-run lead in the second inning. Nick Banks knocked a one-out single, J.B. Moss singled with two outs, and Ronnie Gideon came through with a two-out double to put the Aggies up 2-0.
South Carolina got one run back in the next inning. Logan Koch walked to start things off, Marcus Mooney reached first on an error, both advanced on a Gene Cone sac bunt, and Koch came home on an RBI groundout by Max Schrock.
In the fourth inning, Texas A&M regained a two-run lead when Hunter Melton went yard with one out.
The Gamecocks tied things up in the next inning. Cone walked with one out and advanced on a sac bunt by Schrock, then a throwing error meant Schrock was safe at first and it got Cone home. Schrock scored on a two-out RBI single from Elliott Caldwell to even the score at 3-3.
South Carolina took their first lead of the game in the sixth inning. DC Arendas walked to start things off, Clark Scolamiero laid down a sac bunt, Logan Koch reached first on an error, and then Marcus Mooney homered - for the first time in his career - to put the Gamecocks up 6-3.
It was the Aggies' turn to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Michael Barash led off with a single, Blake Allemand followed with a base hit of his own, and Mitchell Nau went yard with one out to bring in three runs.
In the top of the ninth, South Carolina rallied again, plating three more runs. Schrock singled to lead off, then Kyle Martin launched a two-run shot to make the score 8-6. Caldwell followed with a base hit, and with one out, Scolamiero came through with an RBI single for the Gamecocks' final run of the night.
South Carolina got outhit 14-8 in this game, but they didn't make any errors, while Texas A&M made four. Not only did the defense play well, the offense took advantage of the Aggies' mistakes and got production throughout the lineup, all of which was encouraging to see. That being said, the Gamecocks have had success in the first games of their past few SEC series and then fallen apart in the second and third games, so hopefully that's a trend they can break this weekend.
Starter Jack Wynkoop had another strong performance, pitching eight innings and earning the win. He's now 8-4 on the season. Taylor Widener came in to replace him, but he was then relieved by Reed Scott, who earned the save, his second of the season.
South Carolina improves to 29-21 overall and 11-14 in the SEC, while Texas A&M drops to 41-8 overall and 16-8 in conference play. The teams will meet again on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 p.m.