Baseball Falls to Kentucky in Friday Night Series Opener
April 6, 2018
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of South Carolina baseball team gave up multiple runs in three separate innings and could not recover in a 14-1 loss to No. 9 Kentucky Friday night (April 6) at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Kentucky took advantage of 11 Carolina walks, including a pair in the bottom of the second that led to two of the three runs. Trey Dawson scored a run on an infield single, moved to second on Tristan Pompey’s single up the middle, stole third and scored on a throwing error.
The Wildcats added four runs in the third, three coming off Pompey’s RBI double to right. A Troy Squires RBI single in the fifth made it 8-0 Wildcats. Kentucky then scored five runs in the fifth, capped by a Squires grand slam.
Carolina scored its run in the top of the seventh as LT Tolbert singled, went to second on a throwing error, advanced to third on Jonah Bride‘s single and scored on an RBI single from Matt Williams. Kentucky ended the scoring on Luke Heyer’s home run in the bottom of the seventh.
Adam Hill was tagged with the loss, allowing six earned runs with two strikeouts and seven walks in three innings. Three Gamecock relievers combined to strike out six Wildcats. Sean Hjelle struck out eight in seven innings of work to pick up the win for Kentucky.
GAMECHANGER
Tristan Pompey’s three-run double in the third made it 7-0 Kentucky. Pompey had five RBI on the night.
KEY STAT
Carolina struggled with walks, allowing 11 free passes on the night.
NOTABLE
- Hunter Lomas set career highs in innings pitched (3.0) and strikeouts (4) in Friday’s game.
- Justin Row returned to the starting lineup after missing two starts due to a knee injury.
- Jonah Bride extended his hitting streak to nine games with a seventh inning single.
UP NEXT
South Carolina and Kentucky continue the three-game set on Saturday, April 7 at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
