Baseball Falls to Vanderbilt in SEC Opener

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Cooper Davis’ RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning broke a 2-all tie and gave Vanderbilt a 3-2 win over the University of South Carolina baseball team Friday night (March 19) at Hawkins Field.
 
Vanderbilt scored a pair of runs in the fifth, but the Gamecocks came right back with a pair in the top of the sixth inning. Braylen Wimmer reached on an infield single with one out. He then was safe at second on a Brady Allen grounder to third. Josiah Sightler scored Wimmer on a double to left. Wes Clarke then tied the game with a groundout to short.
 
A leadoff walk in the seventh was followed by two great defensive plays by Andrew Eyster and Wimmer, respectively. After a walk to put runners on first and second, Davis singled in the game-winning run.
 
The Friday night matchup was a battle of aces on the mound. Thomas Farr struck out nine in six-plus innings. He allowed just four hits with three runs and three walks. Kumar Rocker struck out 14 batters in eight innings, allowing three hits and two runs with two walks.

POSTGAME NOTES

• Sightler extended his hitting streak to eight games with the double in the sixth.
• Farr now has 19 strikeouts in the last two outings vs. Texas and Vanderbilt.
• The game was the SEC opener for both teams. It was the first conference game for the Gamecocks since the close of the 2019 season.
• Clarke now has 20 RBI in 16 games for the Gamecocks.

UP NEXT
Carolina and Vanderbilt face off on Saturday morning (March 20) at 11 a.m. CT (12 p.m. ET) at Hawkins Field. The game will be televised on SEC Network with Tom Hart and Kyle Peterson on the call.