Baseball Wins 9-8 Thriller over Alabama
TUSCALOOSA – The University of South Carolina baseball team scored five runs in the top of the seventh, then held on in the ninth for a 9-8 win over Alabama Saturday afternoon (March 30) at Sewell-Thomas Stadium to take the final game of the three-game set.
Carolina took a 9-4 lead into the ninth but the Crimson Tide loaded the bases on three hits. Garrett Gainey retired the next two batters but Gage Miller’s triple scored a pair. TJ McCants made it 9-8 with a single to left. He went to second on a passed ball. Evan Sleight then hit a cue ball to third base. Talmadge LeCroy threw behind McCants to third base, retiring the runner and ending the game.
Alabama had a 4-0 lead in the fourth. Dylan Brewer opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the fifth while Kennedy Jones had an RBI double in the sixth.
In the seventh, Blake Jackson reached on a one-out error. Tippett then walked and Parker Noland singled to load the bases. Cole Messina came through with a double to left that gave Carolina the 5-4 lead. Ethan Petry doubled in a pair and Gavin Casas had an RBI single to make it 8-4. Jackson scored on a wild pitch in the eighth for a big insurance run.
Ty Good earned the win in relief, striking out four and allowing just one hit and no runs in three innings. Tyler Pitzer allowed five hits and four runs with five strikeouts in four innings. Veach earned his first save of the season, getting the final out of the game.
Messina was 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored while Casas and Brewer had two hits apiece.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Petry also has reached base in the last 38 games dating back to last season.
- Ty Good now has 300 career strikeouts between the College of Charleston and South Carolina.
- Parker Noland has a 15-game reached base streak and has hits in the last five games.
UP NEXT
Carolina starts a four-game homestand on Wednesday night (April 3) with a midweek game against Georgia Southern. First pitch is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on SEC Network with Eric Frede and Lance Cormier on the call.
