May 15, 2015
Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
| SCORE BY INNINGS | ||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Louisiana State (45-9, 20-8 SEC) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 0 |
| South Carolina (32-23, 13-16 SEC) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| VIDEO COVERAGE | |||||
| Highlights | |||||
| Coach Holbrook | |||||
| Kyle Martin | |||||
| Clarke Schmidt | |||||
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Top ranked LSU tallied 15 hits with seven of nine starters with at least one hit on the way to a 9-2 win over South Carolina on Friday night at Carolina Stadium. The Tigers improved to 46-9 and 20-8 in the SEC while the loss dropped the Gamecocks to 32-23 and 13-16 in league play.
LSU starter Austin Bain allowed two runs on four hits in 6.1 innings with a walk and seven strikeouts to earn the win. He is 2-2 on the year. South Carolina starter Clarke Schmidt suffered the loss and is now 2-2 for the season. He allowed five runs, four earned, on 10 hits in 5.1 innings with two walks and two strikeouts.
The Gamecocks took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Max Schrock launched a solo home run to right field, his sixth homer of the year. LSU tied the game at 1-1 with a run in the top of the second on a RBI single from Mark Laird.
The Tigers would score a run in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth to take a 5-1 lead. Kade Scivicque belted a RBI double and Andrew Stevenson had a two-run double also. Scivique’s second RBI double in the seventh inning scored two more runs.
South Carolina pushed across another run in the bottom of the seventh to cut LSU’s lead to 7-2. Schrock opened the frame with a single to right field, advanced to second on Martin’s base hit and scored on Alex Destino’s RBI single to left.
The Tigers added two more in the eight to take a 9-2 lead. Conner Hale drove in Jake Fraley with a RBI single and a wild pitch from Gamecock reliever Preston Johnson scored Alex Bregman.
GAME CHANGER
Andrew Stevenson’s RBI double in the fifth inning scored two runs and gave LSU a 5-1 lead.
KEY STAT
LSU held a 15-5 advantage in hits.
NOTABLES
• Max Schrock hit a home run in the bottom of the first for the second-straight day. He finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
• The sellout crowd of 8,242 is the fourth this season and 42nd in Carolina Stadium history.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Chad Holbrook
“You have to congratulate LSU, obviously, they’re as advertised. (Austin) Bain, I thought, was terrific, especially early in the game. Max (Schrock) hit a home run there in the first and we were feeling pretty good about ourselves, but he kind of calmed down and pitched very well. His velocity was a little but more than we had seen in the past and on tape and he had to feel good tonight. He threw the ball really well. The series is tied one-to-one and we (have the rubber game here) tomorrow; our last regular season game at home. We have a great opportunity in front of us and that’s what we’re going to treat it as.”
UP NEXT
South Carolina and LSU will meet in the rubber game of the series on Saturday with first pitch set for 8 p.m. at Carolina Stadium. The game will be televised on the SEC Network and can be heard on the Gamecock IMG Network including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.”
