South Carolina vs. Kentucky game 1 recap: Gamecocks top Wildcats 5-4

This season has been bleak, but South Carolina managed to eke out another SEC win on Friday night to open up the series against Kentucky.

The Wildcats got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead on a sac fly from Elliott Curtis. The Gamecocks tied things up in the third, thanks to a leadoff homer by Noah Campbell. USC took the lead in the next inning. Jacob Olson reached on an error to start things off, then scored on a Brady Allen RBI triple to make the score 2-1, and Allen scored on a wild pitch to make it a 3-1 game.

Kentucky regained the lead in the fifth inning on a two-run single from Ryan Shinn and an RBI base hit by T.J. Collett that made the score 4-3. The Gamecocks tied things back up in the next inning. Allen walked, Wes Clarke singled with one out, and then Jonah Beamon came through with an RBI single. South Carolina scored the final run of the game in the seventh inning on a leadoff home run by Andrew Eyster.

USC starter Cam Tringali pitched 5.2 innings and gave up five hits and four runs. He walked three batters and struck four out. Dylan Harley and Brett Kerry also took the mound in this game, with Harley getting the win, making him 3-4, and Kerry getting the save, his sixth of the season. Wildcats reliever Cole Ayers took the loss and is now 0-2.

The Gamecocks improve to 25-24 overall and 6-19 in the SEC, while Kentucky is now 24-25 overall and 6-19 in conference play. They’ll meet again on Saturday, with first pitch set for 11 a.m.