Feb. 19, 2003
Charleston, S.C. – Justin Harris went 4-for-5 with a HR and Aaron Rawl earned his third victory of the season as seventh ranked South Carolina defeated The Citadel 7-5 on Wednesday evening at Riley Park. South Carolina improves to 5-1 on the season with the loss dropping the Bulldogs record to 0-3 on the year.
Rawl went six innings and recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts with just one walk. Rawl improved to 3-0 on the season with the win. Rawl’s previous career-high in strikeouts was eight, two times as a freshman, the last coming vs. North Carolina in the 2002 NCAA Regional. Citadel freshman Ryan Owens took the loss for the Bulldogs and is 0-1 this season. Sophomore Matt Campbell earned his first save of the season.
The Citadel jumped on top of Carolina in the first two innings, scoring three runs off Gamecock starter Aaron Rawl. A two-run RBI triple from Chip Cannon in the first inning and a RBI double by Matt Matuila in the second, gave the Bulldogs the early 3-0 lead.
A four-run third inning for the Gamecocks erased the early 3-0 deficit. After a lead-off walk by Kevin Melillo, senior Justin Harris drilled his second home run of the season to left field to bring the Gamecocks within one run. Two-out RBI doubles from Nick Gardiner and Bryan Triplett gave Carolina its first lead of the game.
USC increased its lead to 6-3 in the top half of the fifth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Hank Parks singled to center field to score Powell and Trey McDaniel. A RBI single by Powell in the sixth inning put USC up four runs. Powell finished the game 3-for-4, a season-high for hits this season for the junior catcher from Apex, N.C. The Citadel came back with one run in the bottom half of the seventh off Carolina reliever Steven Bondurant. The Bulldogs scored one more run in the eighth inning off a wild pitch from Matt Campbell.
South Carolina returns home this weekend for a three-game series with the Duquesne Dukes. Friday’s first pitch will be at 3 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday’s games starting at 1:30 p.m. USC-Clemson baseball tickets will be on sale inside Sarge Frye Field, Saturday afternoon during the game.
