March 30, 2002
COLUMBIA, SC – Alabama scored five runs in the top of the 13th inning Friday night, including a grand slam home run by Jeremy Brown, and held off a South Carolina rally in the bottom of the inning to down the Gamecocks 10-6 in the first game of a Southeastern Conference baseball series.
The fifth ranked Crimson Tide improved its record to 23-3, 6-1 in the conference while third ranked South Carolina dropped to 21-6, 4-3. The second game of the three game series is scheduled for 4 p.m., Saturday at Sarge Frye Field.
Taylor Tankersley, 3-1, was the winning pitcher and South Carolina freshman Aaron Rawl, 0-1, took the loss.
With one out in the top of the 13th Carlos Sosa singled and scored on a double by Scott McClaanahan to break a 5-5 tie. Travis Garner walked and Peter Stonard was intentionally walked to load the bases. Brown, with a 2-2 count, hit his eight home run of the season over the left centerfield fence to make the score 10-5.
Drew Meyer singled and Steve Thomas walked to give South Carolina two base runners with no outs in the bottom of the inning. After Yaron Peters struck out Garris Gonce singled to score Meyer but Kyle Pope then hit into a double play to end the game.
Alabama hit three home runs in the game, two of them coming in the third inning around a triple and an RBI ground out to stake Alabama to a 3-1 lead. The triple was by Stonard. Travis Garner hit his second homer and Beau Hearod his fifth.
South Carolina scored single runs in the second and third innings and two in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead into the ninth inning as starters Gary Bell for the Gamecocks and Lance Cormier for Alabama engaged in a pitching duel.
Alabama sent the game into extra innings with a ninth inning run tallied on a walk, sacrifice and two hits. The Tide took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th on two hits but South Carolina tied it in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Landon Powell.
South Carolina had 17 hits to 15 by Alabama but the Tide had three homers, a triple and three doubles, two of them by McClanahan. South Carolina’s only extra base hits were doubles by Meyer and Justin Harris.
Brown had three hits and five runs batted in for Alabama. McClanaahan also had three hits. Travis Garner, Stonard and Sosa had two hits. For the Gamecocks, Peters had three hits and two RBI. Trey Dyson had three hits. Meyer, Thomas, Gonce, Harris and Powell had two hits and Powell drove in two runs.
ALABAMA 003 000 001 100 5 – 10-15-1
SOUTH CAROLINA 011 020 000 100 1 — 6-17-4
Cormier, Reed (9), Tankersley (10) AND Brown. Bell, Taylor (9), Campbell (9), Rawl (11), Wilson (13) and Powell. W-Tankersley (3-1). L-Rawl (0-1). Save-None. 2B-UA, McClanahan 2, Stonard, USC, Meyer, Harris. 3B-UA, Stonard. HR-UA, Garner (2), Hearod (5), Brown (8).
