Baseball Shuts Out No. 4 Kentucky to Win Weekend Series
COLUMBIA – Dylan Eskew pitched a career-high 6.1 innings and the University of South Carolina baseball team scored six runs in the fifth inning in a 10-0, seven-inning shutout win over No. 4 Kentucky Sunday afternoon (April 28) at Founders Park.
Eskew was brilliant in picking up his third win of the season. He threw 86 pitches and allowed just five hits while striking out two and walking just one. He retired the first seven batters and a got a pair of double plays in the win.
The Gamecocks plated a pair in the third inning as Ethan Petry’s home run turned into a single as he passed Austin Brinling on the basepaths. It did score Brinling and Gavin Casas to give Carolina a two-run advantage. Kennedy Jones brought in Cole Messina in the third with a fielder’s choice as Messina beat the throw home.
Carolina sent 11 men to the plate in the fifth and had five of the 10 hits in that frame. Jones’ single brought in a pair. Casas and Brinling also had RBI singles in the fifth. The Gamecocks got the 10th run of the day on Jones’ sacrifice fly, his fourth RBI of the afternoon.
Eight of the Gamecocks had hits on the day as Brinling, Jones and Casas had two hits apiece.
POSTGAME NOTES
- The Gamecocks pick up a run-rule win in SEC play for the first time since April 20, 2023, against Florida in a 13-3 win.
- Carolina wins a series over a top-five team for the second time this season. The Gamecocks swept Vanderbilt at Founders Park on April 14-16.
- Carolina had its third shutout of the season.
- Eskew drops his ERA to 3.78 and his opponent’s batting average to .224.
UP NEXT
Carolina will face East Tennessee State on Wednesday, May 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Founders Park. The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
