#4 South Carolina vs. Charlotte Game Recap: Gamecocks beat 49ers 5-4

The Gamecocks got on the board early, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. TJ Hopkins reached first safely thanks to an error, advanced to second, and eventually came home to score. Unfortunately, the home team’s lead was short-lived.

Charlotte tied things up in the top of the second, thanks in part to some errors by South Carolina. Fortunately, the Gamecocks regained the lead in the bottom of the inning, when Jacob Olson went yard for the first time in his collegiate career, making it 2-1. They had a chance to break things open with the bases loaded and two outs, but weren’t able to capitalize.

That lead was also short-lived though, because the 49ers scored two runs to take their first lead of the game in the third inning. The 3-2 score held until the bottom of the fifth, when South Carolina took the lead back for good. With one out, Carlos Cortes doubled, then Justin Row doubled as well to tied the game.e followed with his first #DestinoBomb of the season to put the Gamecocks up 5-3.

The final run of the game belonged to Charlotte, and it came with one out in the ninth inning. The 49ers threatened with two on and two outs, but were only able to bring in the one run.

Sawyer Bridges made his first collegiate start on the mound in this game, and overall he did a pretty decent job. Brandon Murray, Colie Bowers, Josh Reagan, and Tyler Johnson also pitched, with Murray getting the win and Johnson getting the save.

One other item of note is that Hopkins left the game early with a minor leg injury.

With the win, South Carolina improves to 3-1, while Charlotte drops to 2-2. The Gamecocks’ next game is Thursday against Kansas State, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. at Founders’ Park.