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Hoover continues to be less than delightful for the Gamecocks, who battled back to tie the elimination game against LSU on Thursday, but allowed the Tigers a 12th inning rally that sealed USC’s fate in the SEC Tournament.
LSU got on the board first, taking a 2-0 lead in the second on an RBI single and a balk. The Gamecocks ended the shutout in the fourth inning. Jonah Bride got hit by a pitch to start things off, Justin Row doubled, and LT Tolbert also got hit to load the bases. Unfortunately, they got just one run out of it, which came on a Hunter Taylor RBI sac fly to make the score 2-1.
South Carolina tied the game in the sixth inning thanks to a one-out homer by Row. The Tigers regained the lead in the eight on a sac fly, but the Gamecocks again tied it up in the bottom of the ninth, when Tolbert smacked a leadoff triple and came home on an RBI single by Jacob Olson, making it 3-3 and forcing extras.
Neither team did much in the 10th or 11th innings, but LSU scored three runs in the top of the 12th thanks to an RBI single and a two-run double that put the Tigers up 6-3. USC only managed one run in the bottom of the inning, courtesy of a Madison Stokes RBI single.
Starter Adam Hill pitched six innings, then Eddy Demurias, Graham Lawson, Sawyer Bridges, John Gilreath, and TJ Shook combined to go the rest of the way.
South Carolina is now eliminated from the SEC Tournament and will await their seeding in the NCAA Tournament, which is being announced on Monday.