Offenses from both South Carolina and Clemson cheered up on Sunday in Columbia, with the teams again waging a battle of tight goals
The Tigers took the lead at the start, rising 1-0 in the first inning on a James Parker RBI single. The Gamecocks tied for third when HOME RUN KING Wes Clarke hit a two-point solo to score 1-1.
This lasted until the start of the fifth round, when Clemson regained the lead thanks to a two-race double that put the visiting team 3-1. His leadership was short-lived, however, as USC responded at the end of the entry. Braylen Wimmer started things off with a homer to pull the Gamecocks into one, so Brady Allen and Brennan Milone hit a consecutive single before HOME RUN KING went through again to make a 5-3 game.
The Tigers broke the tie again to retake the lead in the seventh entry, rising 7-3 thanks to Alex Urban’s single RBI, a two-run base hit by Regan Reid and a sac bunt by Max Wagner that marked a race. Once again the Gamecocks responded at the end of the entry, however, tying things back up. Milone made a mistake with a knockout, Clarke chose, and then David Mendham and Andrew Eyster came up with basic RBI hits to make 7-7.
Clemson threatened to retake the lead once again at the top of the ninth, but the Tigers failed to capitalize, and then it was the hero’s turn again for Eyster, who recorded an RBI walkoff alone for the second consecutive day.
Carolina starter Brannon Jordan did not have the smoothest starts, but worked four starts and gave up three hits and two runs, while walking four hitters and eliminating eight. Jack Mahoney, Jackson Phipps, Travis Luensmann, Daniel Lloyd, Andrew Peters and Will Sanders also bet on Gamecocks in this game. Sanders won the victory and is now 2-0, while reliever Evan Estridge of Clemson took the defeat and is now 0-1. Clarke, Eyster and Wimmer accumulated three hits each in this game, while Clarke had four RBI and Eyster had two.
The USC remains undefeated, improving to 6-0, while Tigers drops to 3-2. Gamecocks will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to play Winthrop. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 pm