USC built an early 4-1 lead on Missouri and never let up in beating the Tigers 13-4 Sunday afternoon at Founders Park to win their third straight SEC series. The game had plenty of action on and off the field. There was a brief dustup between some fans and the Missouri dugout late in the game that led to some attention from security. USC third base coach Stuart Lake also exchanged words with the Mizzou dugout. And a Missouri player was tossed for his reaction to a called third strike.
On the field, the Gamecocks pounded out 13 hits including home runs by Andrew Eyster and Brennan Milone. Milone’s two run homer in the second made it a 4-1 game. Colin Burgess had a two run single in the fifth as the lead grew to 7-2.
The Tigers scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to pull to within 7-4. The Gamecocks answered with a run in the seventh and five in the eighth coming on the heels of the fan flareup behind the Missouri dugout. That seemed to energize the Gamecock hitters and they teed off on Missouri pitching with five runs on four hits, including Eyster’s two run homer.
Freshman Will Sanders started for the Gamecocks and gave up a homer on the game’s first pitch. After that he limited the Tigers to one hit and one more run over four innings. Brett Kerry pitched the next four innings allowing six this and two runs in picking up his third win against no losses. Brett Thomas pitched the ninth.
The Gamecocks are now 21-9 and 8-4 in the SEC. They will host Charleston Southern Tuesday night before heading to LSU next weekend.
