The Gamecocks’ struggles continued Friday night, as they allowed Georgia to rally in the late innings to take game one of this weekend’s series.
The Bulldogs took an early lead, going up 2-0 in the first inning on a single and a sac fly. The shutout lasted until the third inning, which was really South Carolina’s only good inning of the night. Jacob Olson got hit to start things off, and with one out, Noah Campbell singled to get the Gamecocks on the board. Carlos Cortes singled too, then Madison Stokes tied the game at 2-2 with a base hit of his own. LT Tolbert followed with a two-run triple that put USC up 4-2, and a single by Jonah Bride brought in the Gamecocks’ final run of the game, making the score 5-2.
UGA added a run in the fourth inning on a single, but they rallied with three runs in the seventh to take the lead, then tacked on one more in the eighth. South Carolina’s defense during the seventh inning also left something to be desired, and that combined with a crummy offensive showing was a recipe for losing.
Starter John Gilreath worked four innings and allowed six hits and three runs. He walked one batter and struck out two. Graham Lawson, Eddy Demurias, and Hunter Lomas also pitched in this game.
With the loss, South Carolina is now 13-9 overall and 1-3 in conference play, while Georgia is now 16-6 overall and 3-1 in the SEC. They’ll meet again tomorrow in Athens, with first pitch set for 2 p.m.