Baseball Falls to Kentucky on Saturday Afternoon

LEXINGTON  –  Gavin Casas homered twice and Cole Messina drove in three but the University of South Carolina baseball team fell to Kentucky, 14-7, Saturday afternoon (May 6) at Kentucky Proud Park.

Carolina took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third on Messina’s three-run double to left. Kentucky scored a run in the third and three in the fourth to take a 5-3 lead, but Casas’ first home run of the day tied the game at five. The big hit of the day came in the bottom of the fifth as Jase Felker’s three-run triple gave Kentucky an 8-5 lead. The Wildcats added three in the sixth, one in the seventh and two in the eighth.

Casas’ second home run, a solo shot to right in the eighth, and an Ethan Petry RBI single in the ninth ended the scoring.

Casas was 3-for-5 with three RBI while Messina had two hits. James Hicks was tagged with the loss, allowing seven runs and six hits with two strikeouts and a walk in three innings of relief. Jack Mahoney allowed five runs and seven hits with four walks and two strikeouts in a four-inning start.

POSTGAME NOTES

• Casas now has 19 home runs on the year. If he gets one more, it would be the first time since 1998 that the Gamecocks would have two players with 20 or more home runs (Derick Urquhart, Tim Angiolini).
• Dylan Brewer extended his reached base streak to 20 games.
• Connor McCreery made his season debut on the mound, allowing two runs in the eighth inning.
• Kentucky turned three double plays on the Gamecocks.

UP NEXT
Carolina and Kentucky conclude the three-game series Sunday afternoon (May 7) at 2 p.m. at Kentucky Proud Park. The game will be televised on SEC Network with Tom Hart and Kyle Peterson on the call.