May 18, 2013
Hoover, Ala. – Despite a pair of homers from senior first baseman LB Dantzler, the 12th ranked Gamecocks allowed a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the 2nd and 16th ranked Mississippi State tacked on two more runs in the sixth and three in the eighth on the way to a 7-2 victory over South Carolina in the rubber game of a three-game SEC series. Mississippi State is now 40-16 and 16-14 in the SEC with South Carolina finishing the regular season 39-16 and 17-12 in league play.
South Carolina will head to Hoover, Ala. for the 2013 SEC Tournament. The Gamecocks have earned the No. 4 seed and a first round bye. South Carolina will play in the final game of the day on Wednesday, May 22 against either the No. 5 seed Mississippi State or No. 12 seed Missouri. It is double elimination from Wednesday-Friday with Saturday and Sunday single elimination.
Mississippi State reliever Ross Mitchell earned the win in relief and is now 10-0 on the year. He allowed one run on two hits in 4.2 innings with a walk and a strikeout. South Carolina starter Jack Wynkoop suffered the loss and is now 7-3 on the year. He allowed four runs, two earned, on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
LB Dantzler’s team-leading 13th home run of the season gave South Carolina a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Dantzler drilled a 2-2 pitch from Lindgren over the right field wall.
A pair of errors in the bottom half of the second inning led to two unearned runs for Mississippi State. After a one-out single put C.T. Bradford on base, he advanced into scoring position on Wynkoop’s failed pickoff. Demarcus Henderson would drive in Bradford with a single up the middle. With two outs and Henderson second base, Derrick Armstrong knocked a short grounder to Schrock at second. The Gamecock second baseman would throw high to first though and Dantzler was unable to hold on to the throw. Henderson kept going on the play and scored from second to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
They added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Brett Pirtle singled to lead off the sixth and CT Bradford singled with one outs to put runners on the corners. Pirtle would then score on a wild pitch by Wynkoop. A fielder’s choice scored Bradford extending the Mississippi State lead to 4-1.
Dantzler’s second homer of the day came in the top of the eighth inning. The senior first baseman knocked a 0-2 pitch to right field for his 14th home run of the season to cut the lead to a pair of runs.
MSU however responded with three runs in the bottom of the eighth for a 7-2 advantage. Henderson drove in his second run of the game with a RBI single, Ammirati drove in a run with a RBI double and Trey Porter added a sacrifice fly.
Mississippi State had 11 hits to just seven for the Gamecocks. Henderson went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Bradford, Pirtle and Frazier had two hits apiece as well. Dantzler was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI and Schrock went 2-for-3 to lead the Gamecocks at the plate.
