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The second game of the series between the Gamecocks and Crimson Tide was short on offense for the most part, with the bulk of the scoring happening in just a few innings.
South Carolina had a chance to get on the board early when they loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning, but they weren’t able to capitalize.
After both teams did almost nothing offensively in the first three innings, the Gamecocks ended the drought by scoring three runs in the fourth. Chris Cullen led off with a single, Jacob Olson was safe at first thanks to an error, and Hunter Taylor got USC on the board with an RBI single. LT Tolbert followed with a base hit of his own, and Madison Stokes hit into a fielder’s choice that made it 2-0. The final run of the inning came courtesy of a TJ Hopkins sac fly.
The Gamecocks tacked on another run in the sixth inning. Jacob Olson led off with a single, Tolbert knocked a one-out base hit, and Stokes walked to load the bases again. Hopkins followed and hit into a fielder’s choice to make it 4-0.
Alabama ended the shutout in the seventh inning, cutting the score to 4-2 thanks to an RBI single from Hunter Alexander and an RBI sac fly by Connor Short. The Tide pulled within one run in the next inning, courtesy of a Cody Henry RBI sac fly. Alabama tied the game in the ninth inning on a leadoff solo shot by Chandler Taylor, then scored the go-ahead run on a double play.
South Carolina did some rallying of their own in the bottom of the ninth, tying the game thanks largely to multiple wild pitches, one of which eventually brought Jonah Bride home after he walked to start the inning.
That forced extra innings, and in the bottom of the 10th, Taylor walked and Tolbert singled to put two on with no outs. Yet another wild pitch advanced the runners, Hopkins walked to fill the bases with Gamecocks, and in his only at-bat of the game, Justin Row brought Taylor home with an RBI single.
South Carolina starter Wil Crowe had another good outing, working into the seventh inning before being replaced by Josh Reagan, who went the rest of the way for the Gamecocks.
With the win, South Carolina improves to 16-6 overall and 4-1 in the SEC, while Alabama falls to 12-11 overall and 1-4 in conference play. The rubber game is set for Sunday at noon, and Clarke Schmidt will start on the mound for the Gamecocks.