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After losing an extra innings heartbreaker to College of Charleston on Thursday, it would have been nice to see South Carolina bounce back with a good win over Vanderbilt. Alas, it was not to be.
The Gamecocks trailed early, as the Commodores took a 4-0 lead in the first inning. They loaded the bases thanks to two base hits and a walk, then a double brought two runs in. Another run scored on another base hit, and the fourth run of the inning was scored as Vandy hit into a double play.
South Carolina ended the shut out in the fourth inning, with a little help from the Dores. John Jones led off with a double and came home on a Vandy error, making the score 4-1. The Commodores got the run back in the fifth inning, though, thanks to a two-out RBI single. A homer in the sixth inning made it 6-1 for Vanderbilt.
The Gamecocks showed signs of life in the seventh inning, tacking on a couple more runs. TJ Hopkins led off with a double, DC Arendas singled, and Marcus Mooney came through with a sac fly to make it 6-2. Gene Cone followed with a base hit, and an RBI groundout from LT Tolbert got the final run of the night home.
Starter Clarke Schmidt, who's been pretty dominant all season, was not super sharp early on. Although he got roughed up in the four-run first inning, he did settle in after that and did a nice job keeping his team in the game. He was the only pitcher to take the mound for South Carolina tonight and took the loss, dropping him to 6-1 on the season.
The Gamecocks are now 23-4 overall and 6-1 in the SEC, while Vanderbilt improves to 22-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play. The teams will meet again Friday night, with first pitch set for 7:30 p.m. EDT. Braden Webb will start on the mound for South Carolina and Kyle Wright will get the nod for the Commodores.