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Vanderbilt took an early lead in the first game of this series, scoring two runs in the second inning thanks to RBI singles by Jason Delay and Harrison Ray. The Gamecocks got one run back in the bottom of the inning, though. Chris Cullen led off with a double, then came home on an RBI single from Carlos Cortes to make the score 2-1.
The Commodores scored again in the third on an RBI double by Walker Grisanti, then tacked on three more runs in the fifth to make it 6-1. Those three runs came courtesy of a South Carolina error and a two-out triple from Delay.
Alex Destino led off the bottom of the sixth with a homer, and Julian Infante countered with one in the top of the seventh to put Vandy up 7-2.
The Gamecocks finally got things going in the eighth inning, pulling within one run. Destino reached first safely on an error, Cullen knocked a one-out base hit, and LT Tolbert belted his first homer of the year to make it 7-5. Jacob Olson followed with a double that was very close to being a home run, then Madison Stokes came through with a two-out RBI single to get Olson home. Unfortunately, that rally was the end of the scoring for the home team.
Starter Wil Crowe didn’t have his best stuff tonight, though he wasn’t helped by the wind or the defensive errors. Crowe pitched 6 2⁄3 innings and gave up 11 hits and seven runs. He walked two batters and struck out five. Graham Lawson replaced Crowe on the mound and did a nice job, pitching into the ninth inning until John Parke and Reed Scott took over to go the rest of the way.
With the loss, South Carolina is now 20-9 overall and 6-4 in the SEC, while Vanderbilt improves to 20-11 overall and 5-5 in conference play. They’ll meet again on Friday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. at Founders Park. Clarke Schmidt will start on the mound for the Gamecocks.