April 2, 2006
Baton Rouge, La. – Andrew Crisp’s two-out RBI single in the top of the seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie and sophomore RHP Wynn Pelzer pitched 4.1 shutout innings of relief as fifth ranked South Carolina (26-3, 8-1 SEC) upended 15th ranked LSU (20-10, 2-7 SEC) 2-1 to sweep a three-game SEC baseball series. Carolina extends its winning streak to nine games with the victory and earned a second consecutive sweep of the Tigers in Baton Rouge.
Pelzer did not allow a run and yielded two hits to the Tigers to improve to 2-0 on the year. USC starting pitcher Forrest Beverly worked 4.2 innings and limited the Tigers to one run on four hits while striking out five and walking three batters. LSU starting pitcher Derik Olvey suffered the loss and is now 5-1 on the year. Olvey went the distance and allowed just two runs on four hits with 11 strikeouts.
Trailing 1-0, the Gamecocks scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to come out on top against the Tigers. The Gamecocks took advantage of a Tiger miscue to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the sixth inning. After a leadoff walk to Cheyne Hurst, a hard ground ball hit by Michael Campbell to shortstop Michael Hollander went underneath his glove allowing Hurst to reach third base and put runners on the corners. A fielder’s choice put Hurst in a rundown from third to home on the next play giving LSU the first out but heads up running by Campbell and batter Neil Giesler gave USC runners on second and third base with one out. Campbell would then score on Robbie Grinestaff’s RBI groundout to first baseman Jordan Mayer.
Carolina would go ahead for good in the seventh inning as Reese Havens walked to open the frame and advanced to second on a Trent Kline’s sacrifice bunt. With two outs and Havens still on second base, Crisp drove the first pitch from Olvey up the middle for a RBI single. Havens just beat the throw from center fielder Jarred Bogany to score the go ahead run.
Pelzer stayed poised in the late innings including the ninth inning when LSU loaded the bases with two outs. The sophomore from Holly Hill, S.C. got out of the jam as Jordan Mayer flew out to center field on the first pitch ending the game and preserving the Gamecock victory. Pelzer has been stellar in all three SEC appearances with a 0.00 ERA in 11 innings pitched as well as a 2-0 record and one save. Pelzer has allowed just two hits while striking out 14 batters in the three SEC contests.
LSU out-hit Carolina 6-4 with Will Harris 2-for-2 on the afternoon. Four different Gamecock players had hits including Michael Campbell, who tied a USC career record with a triple in the first inning. Campbell joins Mac White (1991-94) and Bill Harley (1930-32) atop the list with 12 career triples. Neil Giesler’s hitting streak ended at 20 games.
LSU scored its lone run in the fifth inning on a RBI sacrifice fly from J.T. Wise scoring Nicholas Pontiff, who opened the inning with a double and advanced on a sacrifice bunt.
South Carolina returns home for eight of their next nine games beginning Wednesday evening (April 5) with a non-conference tilt vs. Clemson. First pitch at Sarge Frye Field is set for 7 pm with the game televised on CSS-TV. The Gamecock Radio Network will broadcast Wednesday night’s game with Mike Morgan and Tommy Moody calling the action. Live audio and live gametracker stats are also available at uscsports.com.
