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After losing to Presbyterian earlier this week in a game that they had no excuse not to win, South Carolina bounced back with a suprising shutout win over LSU in the first game of this weekend’s series.
The Gamecocks got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a one-out homer by Carlos Cortes. As it turned out, that one run would’ve been enough to win the game, but USC tacked on plenty more. In the third inning, Madison Stokes led off with a single, Jonah Bride got hit by a pitch, and LT Tolbert singled to load the bases with no outs. Justin Row hit into a double play, but it brought Stokes home, and TJ Hopkins smacked an RBI double to make it 3-0.
Two more South Carolina runs came in the seventh inning. Cortes walked to start things off, Stokes knocked a base hit, Bride came through with a one-out RBI single, and Row bunted to get another run home and make the score 5-0.
The Gamecocks broke things even more wide open in the eighth inning. Olson led off with a double, then came home on an RBI single by Hunter Taylor. Noah Campbell walked, Cortes singled to bring in another run, and Matt Williams walked to load the bases with no outs. Tolbert brought a run in with a sac fly that made it 8-0, Bride walked to fill the bases again, and Hopkins cleared them with a triple.
USC also got terrific pitching tonight. Starter Logan Chapman worked 6.2 innings and gave up just two hits and no runs. He also walked two batters and struck out six. Chapman earned the win and is now 3-0 on the season. Sawyer Bridges and Hunter Lomas also pitched in this game.
With the win, South Carolina improves to 21-17 overall and 7-9 in the SEC, while LSU is now 24-15 overall and 9-7 in conference play. They’ll meet again on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. at Founders Park. Adam Hill will start on the mound for the Gamecocks.