Baseball
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Baseball Faces LSU Thursday Afternoon at SEC Tournament
May 24, 2018
HOOVER, Ala — The University of South Carolina baseball team will continue action in the 2018 SEC Baseball Tournament on Thursday afternoon (May 24) as the fifth-seed Gamecocks face eighth-seeded LSU at approximately 2 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. CDT) at Hoover Met Stadium in Hoover, Ala.
NOTABLES
- The Gamecocks scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning and were threatening with the bases loaded in the ninth but fell to Arkansas, 13-8, on Wednesday. That loss put South Carolina in an elimination game with LSU.
- Despite the loss, LT Tolbert had a career night for the Gamecocks. Tolbert was 4-for-5 with a career high five RBI and a grand slam in the sixth. His previous career high was four RBI against Winthrop on Feb. 21.
- Tolbert’s grand slam was the second by a Gamecock this season. Hunter Taylor had a grand slam in that same Winthrop game on Feb. 21.
- Parker Coyne pitched for the first time since May 9 on Wednesday and struck out six in 2.2 innings pitched. Coyne now has 25 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched for the Gamecocks.
- Madison Stokes and Jacob Olson each had two hits in the loss to the Razorbacks. Stokes doubled in the two-run ninth. It was his 11th of the season to go along with 39 RBI.
- Carolina will now face LSU in an elimination game. It will be the second straight season the two teams will meet in the tournament. The Tigers defeated Carolina 11-0, eliminating the Gamecocks in the semifinals.
- All-time, Carolina is 2-7 against LSU in the SEC Tournament. The two wins both came in the 2002 tourney. Carolina defeated the Tigers 10-8 and 5-4 before falling in the championship game to Alabama.
- Adam Hill will make the start for Carolina on Thursday, his 14th of the season. Hill has a team-best 90 strikeouts in 69 innings pitched and led the SEC in opponent’s batting average for most of the season. It’s currently at .185.
- Hill earned the win against LSU on April 21 in Columbia. He struck out seven in six innings of work, allowing four hits and no runs with four walks in an 11-4 victory. Hill defeated Ma’Khail Hilliard, who allowed eight runs in 2.2 innings of work.
- Carolina swept LSU April 20-22, winning the first two games by scores of 11-0 and 11-4. The Gamecocks then won in come-from-behind fashion on Sunday, scoring four runs in the sixth and two in both the seventh and eighth innings in an 8-6 win. TJ Hopkins was 7-for-15 in the series, driving in six, while LT Tolbert and Justin Row had five RBI apiece.
- The LSU sweep was the start of five straight SEC series win for the Gamecocks. South Carolina went 11-4 in the final five series after opening the season 1-5 in the league.
