Baseball Advances to SEC Tournament Semifinal with Friday Win over Kentucky

HOOVER  –  Parker Marlatt had a big outing in relief and the University of South Carolina baseball team scored three times in the fifth as the Gamecocks defeated Kentucky, 6-5, to advance to the semifinals of the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament Friday afternoon (May 24) at the Hoover Met.

Kentucky scored a pair of runs in the second, but Gavin Casas gave the Gamecocks the 3-2 lead with a mammoth home run to right, scoring Dalton Reeves and Parker Noland. Kentucky retook the lead in the fourth, plating a pair of unearned runs.

Carolina acquired the lead for good with three runs in the fifth. Will Tippett hit a solo home run to left to open the frame. The Gamecocks then used a bases-loaded hit by pitch to Kennedy Jones and a bases-loaded walk to Dalton Reeves. Kentucky scored a run in the eighth, but a big double play started by Ethan Petry kept the game at 6-5. Matthew Becker then picked up the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Marlatt earned the win in relief, striking out six and allowing two hits in a run in 3.2 innings. Dylan Eskew had a strikeout in a two-inning start while Tyler Dean did not allow an earned run in 1.2 innings. Becker had his first save of the year, striking out two in 1.2 innings.

Petry had two hits in the win while Casas had three RBI.

POSTGAME NOTES

• Casas now has five career home runs against Kentucky.
• Carolina is in the semifinals for the first time since the 2017 season.
• The Gamecocks struck out 10 batters in the win.
• Cole Messina was walked three times in Friday’s win.

UP NEXT
Carolina will face No. 11 seed LSU for the second time this weekend in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament Saturday afternoon (May 25) at 1 p.m. EDT (12 p.m. CDT). The game will be televised on SEC Network.