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After pulling off a close win in the series opener, South Carolina got out to an early lead but wasn’t able to lock down another win on Saturday.
The Gamecocks took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, though they really should have gotten more. Jonah Bride doubled to start things off, Riley Hogan walked, and both advanced on a passed ball. With one out, Ross Grosvenor walked to load the bases, then Madison Stokes walked with two outs to force in a run. That was all they got out of the inning, though, because they left the bases loaded. This was especially unfortunate because they also left the bases loaded in the third inning. The clutch-ness remains lacking.
LSU ended the shutout in the fifth inning and took the lead. Their first two runs came on a one-out single by Cole Freeman, and a third came courtesy of a sac fly from Antoine Duplantis.
The Tigers scored their only other two runs of the night in the next inning, thanks to a two-out base hit by Zach Watson.
South Carolina’s final run of the night, and the final run of the game, came in the eighth inning. Bride was hit by a pitch to lead off and later stole second before coming home on a one-out RBI single from TJ Hopkins.
Starter Adam Hill worked six innings and allowed six hits and five runs. He also walked three batters and struck out six. He took the loss and is now 3-4 on the season. Colie Bowers pitched the rest of the game for the Gamecocks.
With the loss, South Carolina drops to 27-18 overall and 11-12 in the SEC, while LSU improves to 31-16 overall and 14-9 in conference play. They’ll meet for the rubber game on Sunday, with first pitch set for 3 p.m.