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South Carolina started off Saturday’s doubleheader with a win, beating George Washington 10-6 to secure a series victory.
The Gamecocks took an early lead, going up 2-0 in the first inning when Michael Braswell doubled with one out, advanced on a wild pitch, and came home on a groundout by Braylen Wimmer, and Andrew Eyster followed with a solo shot. USC made it 3-0 in the next inning, after Colin Burgess singled and Matt Hogan, Cole Messina and Braswell all walked, loading the bases and forcing in a run.
The Colonials ended the shutout in the sixth, making it 3-2 courtesy of an error and a Mike Ludowig triple. The Cocks got those two runs and more back in the bottom of the inning, though. Hogan walked and stole second to start things off, Messina singled, and Braswell knocked a base hit to make the score 4-2. With one out, Eyster walked, then a wild pitch and an error brought in two more runs, bumping the home team’s lead to 6-2. Kevin Madden then singled with two outs to score Eyster and make it 7-2.
George Washington tacked on three runs in the eighth thanks to a Noah Levin homer that made it a 7-5 game, but Carolina again answered in the bottom of the inning. Eyster and Belk both singled with one out, then Madden walked to load the bases. Connor Cino followed with a base hit that scored two runs, giving them a 9-5 lead, and Burgess grounded out to get another run in and make the score 10-5. The Colonials’ final run of the game came on a single by Tim Nicholson.
Gamecocks starter James Hicks worked 2.2 innings and allowed one hit but no runs. He walked one batter and struck out two. Wesley Sweatt, Noah Hall and Braswell also pitched in this game; Sweatt got the win and is now 1-0, while Braswell got the save, his first. George Washington starter Connor Harris took the loss and is now 0-2. Braswell led South Carolina at the plate with three hits, and he and Cino each recorded two RBI. Steve DiTomaso led the Colonials at the plate with four hits, while Levin tallied three RBI.
USC improves to 5-1, while George Washington falls to 0-5. The Cocks will go for the series sweep when the two teams meet again on Saturday for the second game of the doubleheader.