South Carolina’s attack was mediocre for most of the game against The Citadel on Tuesday night, but they recovered in the end to help keep the perfect USC record this season intact.
The Bulldogs took the lead early on, rising 2-0 in the first inning, when Crosby Jones knocked down an RBI single and Noah Mitchell hit back with a consecutive double score. Gamecocks ended the shutout in the third round. Joe Satterfield walked to start things, Brennan Milone doubled over and Brady Allen walked with one to load the bases. Satterfield later scored in a two-game error, so Josiah Sightler came with a two-race double and a wild shot brought Wes Clarke home to make 4-2 Carolina. The Citadel had a run back at the bottom of the inning at a Tyler Corbitt groundout, making the score 4-3.
Both teams scored again in the fourth. At the beginning of the inning, Satterfield started with a single, then scored in a bag from George Callil. The Bulldogs responded at the bottom of the entry with a base scoring strike from Travis Lott to make it a 5-4 game. Citadel regained the lead in the sixth inning courtesy of a Cole Simpson home run that put them 6-5.
That score remained until the eighth inning, when the Gamecocks came together to score six races and retake the lead forever. Satterfield doubled up to get things going, Milone left, and with two outs, Allen hit a base to tie the game. Braylen Wimmer followed with a double RBI that put USC 7-6, so Clarke was intentionally taken to load the bases and Sightler came up again with a two-race single, making him 9-6 Cocks. The last two races came in double for Andrew Eyster.
Sightler also started in South Carolina and worked two innings, giving up four strokes and two runs, without taking any hitter or hitting him. Magdiel Cotto, Will Sanders, Wesley Sweatt, Jackson Phipps and Andrew Peters agreed to go the rest of the way to the Gamecocks, and Peters got the win, making it 2-0. Bulldog reliever Logan Barker took the defeat and is now 0-1. Sightler and Satterfield each had two hits in the game, and Sightler also registered four RBIs.
The USC improves to 11-0 this season, while The Citadel drops to 4-7. The Gamecocks will be back in action on Friday, when they will start a series on the road against Texas. The first performance is scheduled for 18:30 in Austin.