South Carolina concedes regular season championship to LSU in extra-innings 3-2 loss
For the second season in a row, South Carolina's baseball team captured the SEC Eastern Division title. However, the Gamecocks were unable to claim the conference regular season championship, dropping two of three games over the weekend against ninth-ranked LSU in the final SEC series of the season.
Friday night's series opener was rained out, forcing the teams to play a doubleheader on Saturday. LSU won game one 5-2 behind a complete game by Kevin Gausman. Senior Michael Roth took his first loss of the season, going eight innings and surrendering three runs on ten hits. Freshman shortstop Joey Pankake led Carolina with two hits and two RBIs on the afternoon.
In the evening, South Carolina rebounded from a 3-0 deficit. For the second straight game, LSU drew first blood with runs in the first, third and fifth innings.
The Gamecocks rallied in the sixth as junior first baseman Christian Walker blasted a three-run homer to left field, tying the game at 3-3. Following a Grayson Greiner single, Pankake gave the Gamecocks the lead with a two-out triple to make the score 4-3.
Carolina extended its lead to 5-3 with an Adam Matthews RBI double in the seventh inning. The Tigers scratched out a run in the eighth, but closer Matt Price preserved the lead to give Carolina the victory. Price allowed one run on three hits in three innings to pick up his ninth save of the season. Tyler Webb kept LSU off the board for 1.2 innings, getting his fifth win on the year.
After Kentucky dropped its first two games of the weekend against Mississippi State, Saturday's contest between the Gamecocks and Tigers served as a winner-take-all battle for the SEC regular season championship.
LSU took the lead in the first inning, but junior Colby Holmes settled down to finish the afternoon by allowing just four hits and one run in 6.2 innings of work. Carolina tied the game in the third when Evan Marzilli knocked his third triple of the season and was brought home on a sacrifice fly by Adam Matthews.
The score remained knotted at 1-1 until extra innings, when LSU plated two runs to take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the tenth. The Gamecocks answered with a double by Marzilli, a single by Matthews, and a sacrifice fly from Walker, cutting the Tiger's lead to 3-2. However, LSU closer Nick Goody retired the final two batters to give the Tigers the SEC regular season title.
South Carolina finishes the regular season with a 39-15 overall record. After starting the conference schedule 1-5, the Gamecocks won 17 of their final 23 SEC contests to claim the Eastern Division crown and finish with an 18-11 record in league play.
The Gamecocks now head to Hoover, Ala., for the SEC Tournament, which begins on Tuesday. The conference tournament has been a thorn in the Gamecocks' side for the past four seasons. Since 2008, South Carolina has a 3-8 record at Hoover, including going 1-4 during their back-to-back national championship seasons.
South Carolina receives a first-round bye as division champions and will face Vanderbilt, Georgia or Auburn on Wednesday, May 23, at 9 p.m.