South Carolina vs. No. 7 Texas A&M games 2 and 3 recap: Gamecocks split doubleheader against Aggies, drop series

South Carolina’s 2019 baseball season continues to be lackluster at best, as the Gamecocks managed to pull off a narrow victory over No. 7 Texas A&M in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, but allowed the Aggies to rally late for a win in the second.

In game one, USC scored all of its runs in the first inning, which is a bold and probably dumb strategy that just happened to work out. Noah Campbell and George Callil both got hit by pitches to start things off, then Luke Berryhill brough them in with a one-out homer, making it 3-0 Gamecocks.

Texas A&M answered pretty much immediately, scoring twice in the second inning on a leadoff solo shot by Logan Foster and a two-out RBI single from Hunter Watson. That was the end of the scoring for the day.

South Carolina starter TJ Shook worked four innings and gave up three hits and two runs. He walked two batters and struck out three. Brett Kerry pitched the other three innings, and he got the save, his fifth, while Shook earned the win, making him 3-1. Aggies starter Asa Lacy pitched the whole game and took the loss, making him 6-2.

In the second game, Texas A&M got on the board first, taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning on a Zach DeLoach RBI single and a two-run double from Braden Shewmake. The Gamecocks ended the shutout in the bottom of the inning, when Campbell singled with one out and came home on an RBI double by Callil, making the score 3-1.

The Aggies got that run back thanks to a leadoff homer from Cam Blake in the fourth inning that made it a 4-1 game. USC added their only other runs in the sixth inning. With one out, Jacob Olson walked, advanced on a wild pitch, then scored on a two-out RBI double by Chris Cullen to make the score 4-2. Brady Allen then walked, Quinntin Perez singled to load the bases, and Campbell also walked to bring Cullen in and make it 4-3. Unfortunately, that was all the Gamecocks were able to get out of the inning, and Texas A&M got the runs back on a two-run homer in the seventh inning from Bryce Blaum.

South Carolina starter Cam Tringali pitched 4.1 innings and allowed six hits and four runs. He didn’t walk any batters and struck five out. He took the loss and is now 2-1. Dylan Harley, Kerry, and Cole Ganopulos combined to go the rest of the way for the Gamecocks. Aggies reliever Joseph Menefee earned the win, making him 3-0, and Kasey Kalich got the save, his 10th of the season.

USC is now 23-17 overall and 5-13 in conference play, while Texas A&M improves to 29-12-1 overall and 11-6-1 in the SEC. The Gamecocks will play again on Tuesday, when they travel to take on Charleston Southern. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.