On a cold, windy night in Columbia, South Carolina, South Carolina and Clemson engaged in a low scoring, pitching battle type of game. Both starting pitchers for each team pitched outstanding ballgames with the game being decided by a walk off. In the bottom of the ninth, with runners on first and third, center fielder TJ Hopkins hit a fly ball to left field, deep enough to score the game winning run.
For the first half of the game, you would've thought you might witness a no-hitter by the end of the night. Both Adam Hill and Jacob Hennessy were dealing. Neither pitcher gave up a run through the first four innings of play.
Hill, with yet another impressive outing, had nine strikeouts through his first 12 batters faced.
Head coach Mark Kingston raved about his pitcher following Friday night's win.
"He got ahead of hitters too, that's the key. With his stuff, if he doesn't fall behind and they can't just sit on the fastball, then he's lights out. And so 28 strikeouts in his last 14 innings, that's as good as it gets."
South Carolina was the first team to get a man across home plate in Friday night's contest. With two on and two out in the bottom of the fifth, Justin Row hit a sky high pop-up to the infield that wound up being dropped by Clemson second baseman Grayson Byrd. With runners on the move, Jonah Bride was able to score and give the Gamecocks a one run advantage heading into the top of the sixth.
If there was anything Adam Hill did wrong, it came in the top of the sixth inning. With a man on, Hill delivered a fastball that Clemson right fielder Seth Beer turned on, sending a rocket out over the right-center field wall. It was Hill's only mistake of the night, but it was a costly one, ultimately giving him a loss on the outing.
Hill finished the night with seven innings pitched, two hits allowed, two earned runs and 14 strikeouts on 110 pitches.
The next couple of innings continued the trend from earlier in the game; solid pitching with a few hits here and there. Then, in the bottom of the eighth inning, pinch hitter Matt Williams led off with a solo home run to tie the game at two apiece.
After shutting Clemson out in the top of the ninth inning, the Gamecocks had their final shot to score before extra innings. Jonah Bride led off the inning with a walk. Immediately, Clemson pitcher Ryley Gilliam tried to pick Bride off of first base, but instead threw the ball two feet to the left of first baseman Chris Williams. Bride took off following the error and found himself at third base, still with no outs in the inning. Danny Blair subbed in as a pinch runner for Bride following the error.
After a Jacob Olson strike out and a Noah Campbell walk, TJ Hopkins found himself up to bat. Campbell was able to steal second, eliminating the double play option, leaving it up to Hopkins to drive a run in. After taking a strike, Hopkins flied the ball to left field, giving Blair plenty of time to sprint home and give the Gamecocks the game winning run.
The Gamecocks improved to 7-4 on the year, and handed Clemson its first loss (9-1) of the season. The series continues Saturday at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina, at 3 p.m.