Baseball Falls to Army to Open the Salute the Troops Tournament

COLUMBIA – The University of South Carolina baseball team fell to Army West Point, 9-5, in the Salute to Troops weekend opener on Friday afternoon (Feb. 20) at Founders Park.

Army jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third, plating two runs off a wild pitch and an RBI single. They doubled their lead in the fourth on a two-run home run. South Carolina notched their first run of the day off a double in the gap from Logan Sutter to score Patrick Evans in the fifth.

In the seventh, a double and a three-run home run gave way to a four-run inning for Army. West Point hit its third home run of the game in the eighth to extend the lead.

The Gamecocks mounted a comeback effort in the late innings with an RBI single from Will Craddock and two runs via a bases-loaded walk in in the eighth and a solo home run from Talmadge LeCroy in the ninth, but the Black Knights won the opener of the six-game tournament.

LeCroy and Evans led the way with two hits and one RBI each for Carolina, while Sutter drove in a pair. The loss went to Riley Goodman, who allowed three runs and two hits with three strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work. 

POSTGAME NOTES

• LeCroy is now hitting .435 on the season with two home runs and five RBI. LeCroy had a stolen base in today’s game.
• Parker Marlatt pitched a scoreless ninth with a pair of strikeouts.
• Carolina pitching struck out 10 batters but also walked seven.

UP NEXT
South Carolina continues Salute the Troops weekend against Navy on Saturday, Feb. 21, in Founders Park. First pitch is set for 1 p.m., and the game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.