Baseball Bests Ole Miss; Saturday's Game Moved to 3 p.m.

COLUMBIA – Noah Hall pitched 7.2 innings, allowing just two runs with five strikeouts and no walks and Josiah Sightler belted a 3-run home run in the third as the University of South Carolina baseball team defeated No. 25 Ole Miss, 4-2, Friday night (April 15) at Founders Park, evening the series at one game apiece.
 
Ole Miss struck first on a Tim Elko homer in the top of the first, but Carolina took the lead for good in the third. Michael Braswell led off the inning with a single. With one away, Brandt Belk reached base on a bunt single, extending his hit streak to 21 games. With two away, Sightler hit one opposite field that hit the top of the wall and then the railing for his team-leading sixth home run of the season.
 
Carolina added a run in the fourth as Talmadge LeCroy came home on a wild pitch.
 
The night belonged to Hall as he earned the win for the Gamecocks. He pitched a season high 7.2 innings and threw 96 pitches. The only Rebel he had trouble with was Elko, who was 4-for-4 with two home runs. Matthew Becker earned his third save of the season, striking out three in 1.1 innings.

POSTGAME NOTES

• Sightler is hitting .406 with five home runs and eight RBI in his last 10 games.
• Game time was 2:28.
• South Carolina only left one runner on base.

UP NEXT
Carolina and Ole Miss will wrap up the three-game series on Saturday afternoon (April 16). The game has been moved to 3 p.m. due to the weather forecast in the Midlands.