After falling to Vanderbilt in last weekend's series, South Carolina got off to a strong start against Tennessee with a 7-6 victory in the opener. The win did not come easy for the Gamecocks, as Tennessee outhit them 14-8 and nearly staged a late comeback.
After being honored as the National Co-Pitcher of the Month by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Clarke Schmidt turned in another stellar performance to pick up his seventh win of the season. Schmidt worked six innings and fanned 10 batters. The sophomore right-hander has notched at least eight strikeouts in each of his last seven starts.
Tennessee employed a patient approach against Schmidt and frequently fouled off borderline pitches to drive up his pitch count. Despite allowing just one earned run, Schmidt departed after six innings, having thrown 115 pitches.
South Carolina got the bulk of their offensive production from two of their freshmen hitters. First baseman LT Tolbert launched a two-run home run to right field in the fourth inning to put the Gamecocks up 3-1. Tolbert added to his RBI total when he drew a walk with the bases loaded in the fifth inning.
Right fielder TJ Hopkins drove in two runs in the fifth when he deposited a ground-rule double over the center field fence.
South Carolina's bullpen imploded in the top of the seventh and nearly lost their 7-2 lead when Brandon Murray and Tyler Johnson allowed Tennessee to score four times in the inning. The middle of the pen, specifically the bridge from the starting pitcher to Josh Reagan, has been a major question mark for the Gamecocks lately. Over the last six games, the bullpen has now allowed 16 runs in 22 innings.
Closer Reagan was able to work around some uncharacteristic wildness to preserve South Carolina's narrow lead in a six-out save.
In the eighth inning, Reagan loaded the bases, but head coach Chad Holbrook chose to not warm up anyone in the bullpen behind him. On his confidence in Reagan, Holbrook noted, "We were going to win or lose with him having the ball. Obviously he probably be not available tomorrow, but Coach Tanner always taught me: Don't lose today planning for tomorrow. Try to win today."
The series will continue to at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Freshmen Braden Webb will take the ball for South Carolina and will try to build off the success that he has had in his previous two starts.