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Remember when things were all doom and gloom around Gamecock baseball, when they were losing to small in-state teams and looking totally lost against SEC teams? Those days were no fun. This current version of the team, on the other hand, is VERY fun.
After two scoreless innings for both teams, South Carolina got on the board in the third inning. Matt Williams started things off with a solo homer to put the Gamecocks up 1-0. With one out, TJ Hopkins walked and Carlos Cortes singled, then Madison Stokes brought Hopkins home with an RBI sac fly and Jonah Bride came through with an RBI single to make it 3-0.
No. 4 Ole Miss didn’t take long to end the shutout, making the score 3-1 on an RBI single in the top of the fourth. USC answered in the bottom of the inning by adding a bunch of insurance runs. LT Tolbert knocked a leadoff base hit, Williams singled with one out to bring him home and make it 4-1, and Cullen followed with a walk. Hopkins came through with an RBI single, then Cortes doubled to bring in two runs and put the Gamecocks up 7-1. Stokes followed with an RBI base hit of his own to make the score 8-1.
South Carolina tacked on a couple more runs in the fifth inning. Williams singled with one out, Hopkins walked with two outs, and Cortes doubled again to bring them both home, putting the Gamecocks up 10-1.
The Rebels made the game closer in the top of the eighth inning, scoring five runs on an RBI single, an, RBI double, and RBI groundout, and a two-run homer to make the score 10-6. USC added the final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth, when Justin Row doubled with two outs and came home on an RBI double by Tolbert.
Starter Adam Hill had a great outing, working six innings and allowing just three hits and one run. He walked three batters and struck six out. Hill earned the win and is now 5-5 on the season. Carmen Mlodzinski, Graham Lawson, and Eddy Demurias also pitched in this game.
With the win, South Carolina improves to 28-18 overall and 13-10 in the SEC, while Ole Miss is now 35-13 overall and 12-11 in conference play. The Gamecocks will go for the sweep on Sunday, with first pitch set for noon at Founders Park. Cody Morris will start on the mound for the home team.