Baseball Falls to Presbyterian on Tuesday Night
April 17, 2018
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina baseball team tied the game against Presbyterian with three runs in the third inning, but the Blue Hose answered with a run in the fifth and two runs in the sixth, on its way to a 7-4 win over the Gamecocks Tuesday night (April 17) at Founders Park.
Presbyterian got out to a lead in the early stages of the game. The Blue Hose put two on the board in the first after Nick Guimbarda and Guy Casaceli walked and singled, respectively. Nick Wise drove in Guimbarda with a groundout to second and TJ Richardson brought Casaceli home on a single up the middle to give PC a 2-0 lead in the first.
In the second inning, the Blue Hose added another run after Tannor Byrd led off the frame with a double to right field. Jack McLaughlin followed it up the very next at-bat with a single down the right field line, scoring Byrd from second and extending the lead to 3-0.
The Gamecocks rallied back to tie the game at three in the bottom half of the third. Carlos Cortes and Madison Stokes walked and then a triple off the bat of LT Tolbert brought them both home. Two batters later, Jacob Olson doubled to bring Tolbert home for the third and final run of the inning.
Presbyterian got a run back in the fifth inning after Guimbarda doubled to left center and then a double from Jonathan White brought him home to give PC a 4-3 lead.
PC added two more tallies in the sixth. Freshman RHP TJ Shook loaded the bases after a passed ball on a strikeout, walk, and a single from Jack McLauglin. A bases loaded walk to Andrew Bladt brought home Thatcher Coleman and then a deep sacrifice fly from Guimbarda scored Byrd to make the Blue Hose lead 6-3.
Carolina added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Cortes walked and advanced after Jonah Bride also drew a walk. A hard-hit single from Tolbert allowed Cortes to score from second to cut the PC lead to 6-4 but the Gamecocks got no closer than that.
Presbyterian added one more insurance run in the top half of the ninth. Guimbarda singled to start the inning and then a double from Wise to the wall in right brought him home.
For Presbyterian, reliever Austin Paradis got the win, throwing 2.1 innings and giving up one run on four hits while walking one. Colton Springs got his first save of the season for the Blue Hose, striking out three in 1.1 innings of work. For the Gamecocks, Carmen Mlodzinski took the loss, surrendering four runs on six hits, while striking out four and walking one.
Tolbert had two hits and drove in three on the night. Cortes scored a pair of runs while Olson had an RBI.
GAMECHANGER
Presbyterian took the lead for good in the top of the fifth as a Jonathan White double scored a run and gave the Blue Hose a 4-3 lead.
KEY STAT
South Carolina had six hits and walked seven times on the night, but left 10 men on base.
NOTABLE
- LT Tolbert had three RBI on the night, which was the 25th time in his career where he had a multi-RBI performance.
- Jacob Olson now leads the team with 11 doubles after his two-bagger in the third.
- Carolina falls to 17-7 at home this season.
- TJ Hopkins played in his first game since March 20, coming in to play center field in the eighth inning. Hopkins, who was kept out of action with a hand injury, was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the eighth.
UP NEXT
South Carolina will host #19 LSU this weekend at Founders Park. Game one will be Friday night (April 20) at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
