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This game got way more interesting/stressful than it needed to, but it ended with another win for the No. 22 Gamecocks, as they did just enough to beat the Bulldogs and sweep the two-game set for the season.
South Carolina was on the board first, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. With one out, Andrew Eyster reached on an error, TJ Hopkins singled, and Luke Berryhill came through with an RBI double. Jacob Olson followed with an RBI groundout that brought Hopkins home.
The Gamecocks added a handful of insurance runs in the next inning. Ian Jenkins knocked a base hit with one out, then George Callil and Brady Allen each got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Eyster hit an RBI single to make it 3-0, Hopkins followed with a two-run double, Berryhill came through with an RBI sac fly that made the score 6-0, and the wild pitch offense worked again as Hopkins scored to put USC up 7-0. The Bulldogs ended the shutout in the bottom of the inning, making it a 7-1 game on an RBI single from Jeffery Brown.
That score held until the sixth inning, when the Gamecocks added two more runs. Callil started things off with a triple, Eyster got hit by a pitch with one out, and Hopkins walked to load the bases. Berryhill tallied another RBI sac fly, then the wild pitch offense worked again too, bringing Eyster home to put South Carolina on top 9-1. The Citadel responded by cutting the lead in half in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a three-run double from Tyler Corbitt and an RBI single by Ryan McCarthy, making it a 9-5 game.
The Bulldogs tacked on another run in the next inning on an RBI sac fly from Andrew Judkins, making the score 9-6. The Gamecocks’ final run of the game came in the eighth inning. Callil and Allen walked to put two on with no outs, then Hopkins also walked with one out to fill up the bases. Berryhill followed with a walk too, forcing in a run and making it 10-6. The Citadel scored their final three runs in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Bryce Leasure and a two-run triple from Ben Peden.
USC starter Daniel Lloyd worked 2.1 innings and allowed three hits and one run. He walked one batter and struck out three. Lloyd also got the win and is now 2-0. Cole Ganopulos, John Gilreath, Cam Tringali, Parker Coyne, and Gage Hinson also pitched in this game, and Hinson earned the save, his first of the season. Bulldogs starter Jordan Flanders took the loss and is now 0-2.
The Gamecocks improve to 14-3, while The Citadel drops to 7-9. South Carolina will be back in action on Friday, when they open a series against No. 8 Georgia. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Founders Park.