April 18, 2003

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The first game of the South Carolina-Mississippi State baseball series was suspended Friday night due to rain after six innings with the Gamecocks leading 2-0 and will be completed before Saturday’s scheduled game.

Play will be resumed at 3 p.m., with the second game to begin half an hour after completion of the first. Play was halted at 8:43 p.m., and the decision to suspend until Saturday was made 45 minutes later.

South Carolina left-hander Steven Bondurant was working on a four hit shutout through six innings and Mississippi State left-hander Paul Maholm had allowed eight hits and two runs, only one of them earned. South Carolina scored a run in each of the first two innings and Maholm pitched four scoreless innings after that.

Steven Tolleson singled on the first pitch in the bottom of the first, was sacrificed to second and moved to third on a single by Brian Buscher. Tolleson scored on a sacrifice fly by Landon Powell. In the second inning Kevin Melillo walked, moved to second on a hit by Jon Coutlangus and continued to third when Mississippi State center fielder Joseph Hunter bobbled the ball for an error. An infield hit by Tolleson drove in Melillo.

South Carolina loaded the bases with one out in the third inning but Maholm struck out Hank Parks and Melillo to pitch out of that jam. The Gamecocks left nine base runners stranded over the first five innings.

Bondurant meanwhile allowed the Bulldogs only four base runners in six innings. Brad Corley singled with two out in the first inning and Thomas Berkery led off the third inning with a single. Bondurant them retired nine Bulldogs in a row until yielding singles to Jon Mungle and Steve Gendron in the sixth inning.

Bondurant struck out five, walked none and threw 74 pitches in six innings. Maholm struck out nine, walked three and hit one batter. He threw 113 pitches. The first six innings were played in intermittent light rain until heavier rain halted play.