Baseball Qualifies for SEC Tournament with Series Finale Win over Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The University of South Carolina baseball team received 6.1 quality innings on the mound from Brett Kerry and got a pair of home runs from Andrew Eyster as the Gamecocks earned the 12th spot in the SEC Tournament with a 10-8 win over No. 5 Mississippi State Saturday afternoon (May 18) at Dudy Noble Field.

Eyster opened the scoring in the first with a solo home run to left field. The Bulldogs’ Justin Foscue answered with a solo home run in the fourth. Carolina went up 4-1 in the fifth. Brady Allen led off the frame with a triple and scored on George Callil’s single through the left side. After a sacrifice bunt and groundout, TJ Hopkins singled to score a run. Two batters later, Luke Berryhill singled home Hopkins to build a three-run lead.

The Gamecocks erupted for four runs in the fourth, three off the bat of Berryhill, who hit his 12th home run of the year. Mississippi State scored a pair in the bottom of the seventh, but Carolina answered with two in the eighth on Eyster’s second home run of the game.

The Bulldogs brought in four runs in the ninth, but Parker Coyne came in and got a foul out to end the threat. Coyne picked up his first save of the year as he got a strikeout to end the ballgame.

Kerry moved to 4-1 on the year, striking out four and allowing two runs on five hits with three walks. Coyne had three strikeouts in 1.2 innings of relief. Eyster was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI while Berryhill drove in four.

GAMECHANGER

The Gamecocks scored four runs in the sixth, three off the bat of Berryhill, who came to the plate after the Bulldogs walked Andrew Eyster.

KEY STAT

Brett Kerry’s allowed just two hits in 6.1 innings in his second career start, improving to 4-1 on the season.

NOTABLE

• Carolina qualifies for the SEC Tournament after Georgia defeated Alabama, 9-1.
• Brady Allen had his fifth triple of the season, tying Carolina’s freshman record set in 1982 by Phillip Wilson.
• Eyster recorded his first multi-home run game in a Gamecock uniform.

UP NEXT

Carolina will face fifth-seeded LSU Tuesday night (May 21) in the opening round of the 2019 SEC Tournament. The game will be televised on SEC Network and will start after the conclusion of the Auburn-Tennessee game, which starts at 4:30 p.m. Central time (5:30 p.m. Eastern).