Da Silva Earns First SEC Win as Gamecocks Defeat LSU

Baton Rouge, La. – No. 2 South Carolina men’s tennis defeated No. 45 LSU on Friday in Baton Rouge with freshman Lucas Da Silva earning his first conference win to kick off the scoring in singles.

In doubles LSU stuck first with Ronald Hohmann and Nick Watson earning a 6-3 win over No. 22 Jake Beasley and James Story. The Gamecocks were able to comeback to clinch the point with a 6-3 win from the No. 3 position and a 6-4 win from the No. 1 position.

In singles, South Carolina picked up the first three singles wins to clinch the match at 4-0, but remaining matches played out with the Tigers tightening the gap to 4-3.

The first singles win of the day came from Da Silva on Court 6. The freshman saw his first action in SEC play against LSU’s Ben Koch, winning the match in dominating fashion, 6-1, 6-2. Da Silva now has a 10-8 overall record and 2-1 mark in dual play.

The next point came from No. 6 Toby Samuel from the top spot in the lineup. The junior extended his singles win streak to four, defeating No. 55 Hohmann in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1. Samuel is now 13-2 in dual play with seven of his dual wins coming over ranked opponents.

The match was clinched by Beasley who took down his opponent 6-2, 7-5 from the No. 5 position. Beasley is now 18-6 overall and 10-2 in dual play including a perfect 3-0 record against SEC opponents.

The remaining three matches played out with LSU picking up wins on Courts 4, 3, and 2 to close out the match.

The men’s tennis team will continue action on the road on Sunday, traveling to Starkville, Miss., to take on No. 14 Mississippi State at 1:00 p.m. ET.

For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).

(2) South Carolina 4, (45) LSU 3

Doubles (order of finish: 2, 3, 1)

1. #1 Connor Thomson/Toby Samuel (SC) def. Chen Dong/Welsh Hotard (LSU) 6-4
2. Ronald Hohmann/Nick Watson (LSU) def. #22 Jake Beasley/James Story (SC) 6-3
3. Raphael Lambling/Casey Hoole (SC) def. Ben Koch/George Stoupe (LSU) 6-3

Singles (order of finish: 6, 1, 5, 4, 3, 2)

1. #6 Toby Samuel (SC) def. #55 Ronald Hohmann (LSU) 7-5, 6-1
2. Chen Dong (LSU) def. #5 Connor Thomson (SC) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
3. Welsh Hotard (LSU) def. #84 Raphael Lambling (SC) 5-7, 6-3, 10-3
4. George Stoupe (LSU) def. #83 Casey Hoole (SC) 6-4, 0-6, 7-5
5. Jake Beasley (SC) def. Benjamin Ambrosio (LSU) 6-2, 7-5
6. Lucas da Silva (SC) def. Ben Koch (LSU) 6-1, 6-2