South Carolina at Missouri game 1 recap: Gamecocks lose to Tigers 5-2

There’s not a lot that’s fun about South Carolina baseball these days, and unfortunately there was even less to enjoy on Friday night, as the Gamecocks played a really uninspired game and dropped the opener against Missouri.

USC scored their first and only two runs of the game in the top of the third inning. With two outs, George Callil and Luke Berryhill both singled, then Andrew Eyster brought them both home with a two-run double to make the score 2-0. The Tigers answered immediately, scoring two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning on a fielder’s choice and a balk to tie the game. Things went downhill from there.

Mizzou took the lead in the sixth inning on a wild pitch, putting them up 3-2. The Tigers tacked on their final two runs in the next inning with help from some really sloppy Gamecocks defense. With one out, Peter Zimmermann knocked a two-run single, and both runs were unearned.

South Carolina starter Reid Morgan worked six innings and allowed eight hits and three runs. He walked one batter and struck six out. Morgan took the loss and is now 3-4. Gage Hinson, Dylan Harley, Wesley Sweatt, and Cole Ganopulos also pitched in this game. During that messy seventh inning, all four relievers took the mound at one point. Missouri starter Jacob Cantleberry got the win and is now 4-3, while reliever Ian Bedell earned the save, his fourth.

The Gamecocks drop to 24-18 overall and 5-14 in conference play, while the Tigers improve to 28-15-1 overall and 8-10-1 in the SEC. They’ll meet again on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.