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After squeaking past Charlotte earlier this week, South Carolina couldn’t do the same against Kansas State tonight. The first inning was ROUGH, with the Wildcats taking a 4-0 lead and batting all the way around. After a pair of walks to start things off, KSU brought in three runs on a double, a fly out, and a single. Another base hit and another walk loaded the bases with two outs, and yet another walk forced in the fourth run of the inning.
The Gamecocks threatened in the bottom of the inning, after Danny Blair got plunked and Chris Cullen walked to start things off, then Carlos Cortes also walked with one out. Unfortunately, they left the bases loaded.
South Carolina cut the lead in half in the third inning though, courtesy of an Alex Destino home run. The Wildcats got the runs back in the next inning on a two-run homer, making it 6-2. The Gamecocks added a run in the bottom of the fourth, with Madison Stokes scoring when Danny Blair hit into a double play.
The final two runs of the day belonged to South Carolina, and they came in the fifth inning. With two outs, Jacob Olson singled and Riley Hogan got hit, then Stokes came through with an RBI double and LT Tolbert brought in the final run with an RBI single.
Starting pitcher John Parke, coming back from Tommy John surgery and making his first appearance since 2015, did not have a great day. He didn’t make it out of the first inning, and was replaced by Graham Lawson. Reed Scott took over in the fourth inning and pitched the rest of the game. He did a great job, and it’s really unfortunate the offense couldn’t do enough to lock down the victory, especially considering they had the bases loaded more than once.
With the loss, South Carolina drops to 3-2 and Kansas State improves to 4-1. The Gamecocks will be back in action on Friday, when they open up a series with Wright State. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Founders’ Park.