South Carolina baseball (15-19, 2-10 SEC) capped off its five-game home stand with a 6-4 loss to College of Charleston Tuesday night at Founders Park. The Gamecock offense was shut out until the fifth inning and only had four runs on nine hits.
“They played a better baseball game than we did,” interim head coach Monte Lee said. “They found a way to score early. We found a way to get back into it, but ultimately, you know, they were the better team tonight.”
The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning after singles from freshman outfielders Jake Amman and Nick Diaz and a walk from graduate catcher Dylan Johnson loaded the bases with no outs. Amman scored off a fielder’s choice from sophomore first baseman Alex LaCoste to give the Cougars the early lead.
Sophomore left-hander Logan Prisco made the start on the mound for the Gamecocks, but did not make it out of the first inning after leaving with an apparent hand injury. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Parker Marlatt entered in the first inning with one out and left both runners on the corners stranded with a pop up and strikeout.
The Cougars extended their lead in the third inning after Amman doubled to lead off the inning and later stole third. After Johnson drew his second walk of the day, LaCoste blasted a three-run home run to left field to push the Cougars up 4-0.
Redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Riley Goodman entered with one out in the third and issued back-to-back two-out walks. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, but Goodman earned his second strikeout of the night to hold the Cougars at three runs.
Sophomore third baseman Erik Parker doubled with one out in the bottom of the third inning and later advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from junior outfielder Patrick Evans. The Gamecocks had an opportunity to respond to the four-run deficit after junior outfielder Tyler Bak and senior catcher Jake Randolph both reached to load the bases with two outs. Fifth-year designated hitter Talmadge LeCroy struck out swinging to strand all three runners and maintained the Cougars' four-run lead.
Another opportunity came for South Carolina in the bottom of the fifth inning after freshman first baseman Will Craddock was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. After Parker and Bak walked to load the bases once again for the Gamecocks, Craddock scored on a sacrifice fly from Randolph to cut into the Cougars' lead to 4-1.
The Gamecocks continued to cut into the Cougars' lead, 4-2, in the sixth inning after an RBI double from Craddock, who scored senior right fielder Luke Yuhasz, who had previously singled.
South Carolina tied the game 4-4 after Evans doubled to lead off the seventh inning and scored on a two-run home run from Bak. The bases were loaded with two outs after singles from sophomore shortstop KJ Scobey and Yuhasz, followed by a walk from senior pinch hitter Ethan Lizama, but they were left stranded after Craddock fouled out to second base to end the seventh tied 4-4.
After two-out singles in the top of the ninth inning from Johnson and LaCoste, redshirt senior second baseman Ethan Plyler had the go-ahead RBI double to solidify the Cougars' 6-4 win.
South Carolina’s bullpen was heavily utilized Tuesday, with six arms going a combined 8.1 innings. Marlatt, Goodman, sophomore Connor Chicoli, along with juniors Josh Gregoire, Alex Philpott and Josh Gunther gave up 10 hits, eight walks and had 12 strikeouts in the loss.
What’s next?
South Carolina travels to Missouri for a three-game series against the Tigers starting Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m., and the game will be streaming on ESPNU.