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Now that we've all had enough time to get over/block out Wednesday night's blowout at the hands of the other Carolina, we can appreciate South Carolina beating the Bulldogs tonight to get back in the win column.
The Gamecocks got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Alex Destino walked to lead off, then came home on a two-out RBI single by Chris Cullen.
South Carolina tacked on another run in the next inning. Marcus Mooney reached first on an error to start the inning, then Gene Cone - who extended his hitting streak to 21 games - and LT Tolbert knocked back to back base hits to load the bases. With one out, Destino came through with an RBI sac fly to make it 2-0. A walk to Dom Thompson-Williams loaded the bases again, but the Gamecocks weren't able to capitalize.
The final run of the night for South Carolina came in the fourth inning. Cullen walked to lead off, then Mooney and Cone both walked with one out to load the bases yet again. A Georgia error brought Cullen home for the Gamecocks' third run. Unfortunately that was all they got, because they had they failed to capitalize further with the bases still loaded. Despite making things interesting in the top of the ninth by loading the bases yet again, they also failed to take advantage yet again.
The Bulldogs' only run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning on a solo homer from Daniel Nichols.
Starter Clarke Schmidt was dominant tonight and pitched a complete game. He's now 8-1 on the season.
While it was good to get a win, South Carolina really should have had more than three runs. They left the bases loaded three times, Georgia pitchers walked six batters, and the Bulldogs made four errors. Fortunately, three runs was enough tonight, but it would be nice to see the Gamecocks get back to doing some clutch hitting.
With the win, South Carolina improves to 29-6 overall and 11-2 in the SEC, while Georgia drops to 18-17 overall and 4-9 in conference play. They'll meet again tomorrow in Athens, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. Braden Webb will start on the mound for the Gamecocks, while Connor Jones will get the nod for the Bulldogs.