Baseball Falls to Old Dominion in Columbia Regional

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina (34-22) dropped a tight, 2-1 game to top-seeded Old Dominion (44-14) late Saturday night at Founders Park in game four of the NCAA Columbia Regional. It was a pitcher’s duel between Thomas Farr and Ryne Moore, as each gave up just one run and three hits in the first seven innings of the game.
 
ODU took the lead after a 1-1 standstill in the top of the eighth inning. Kenny Levari and Carter Trice started the frame with back-to-back singles. Farr was able to get the next two batters out. The Gamecocks then intentionally walked Matt Countey to load the bases. Tommy Bell then walked to bring in the eventual game-winning run.
 
Aaron Holiday closed it out for the Monarchs, striking out four of the six batters he faced.
 
Coutney put ODU in front 1-0 in the top of the second with a two-out, solo shot to left center. The Gamecocks put runners on in each of the first three innings but were unable to capitalize.
 
Carolina finally broke through to tie the game 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth. Braylen Wimmer legged out a double. Wimmer moved to third and would eventually score on a sacrifice fly to deep center field by Joe Satterfield.
 
The game remained tight as the Gamecocks had a great chance to take the lead in the bottom half of the seventh. Satterfield singled to right field to start the inning, then George Callil was a hit by a pitch. Leadoff man Brady Allen bunted them over to second and third, bringing up the heart of the Carolina lineup with one out. Andrew Eyster struck out on a tough check swing call. Wes Clarke then battled back from an 0-2 count to walk and load the bases. Josiah Sightler, hit one to shallow left field but it was tracked down by ODU speedster Kyle Battle to end the inning with the score still tied 1-1.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Farr set a season high with 7.2 innings pitched in tonight’s game.
• The game start was delayed an hour due to lightning in the area.
• Carolina fell in a regional game for the first time since 2016. That team came out of the loser’s bracket to win the regional.
• Wimmer leads the team with 15 doubles after his two-bagger tonight.

 
UP NEXT
South Carolina will face Virginia in an elimination game on Sunday at noon ET. The winner will then face Old Dominion in the nightcap at 6 p.m.  A Monarch win would punch their ticket to Super Regionals. A loss would mean a final elimination game on Monday night at 7 p.m.