Auburn plated four runs in the seventh inning to rally past USC 8-6 at Plainsman Park on Saturday afternoon. The result guaranteed the Tigers their fourth SEC series victory in the last five outings, while the Gamecocks dropped their third conference matchup this month with the only series win coming last weekend against Ole Miss. USC fell back to .500 at 19-19 overall and 6-11 in league play, while Auburn improved to 28-12 on the season and 10-7 in the SEC.
The Tigers took advantage of some sloppy defense from the Gamecocks, scoring two unearned runs to grab a 2-0 lead after three innings. Auburn added a single run in the fifth on an RBI base hit from Brooks Carlson. However, the 3-run lead was short-lived as the Gamecocks quickly responded in the 6th. With two on and two out, Braylen Wimmer smacked a three-run home run to left field tying the game at 3-3. The blast was Wimmer’s fifth of the season and seemed to ignite a Gamecock offense which had been held to nine hits in fourteen innings by Auburn pitching, prior to the junior’s plate appearance.
In the decisive seventh inning, USC jumped ahead for the first time on an RBI single from Kevin Madden and a two-run base hit off the bat of Josiah Sightler. But the 6-3 advantage would not be enough for the visitors as Auburn knocked USC starter Noah Hall out of the game and grabbed the lead off of reliever Matthew Becker. The Tigers tacked on a solo home run in the eighth inning to provide the final 8-6 margin.
Carson Swilling, one of six Auburn pitchers on the afternoon, was credited with his first victory of the season. Swilling worked just a third of an inning, striking out the only batter he faced. Becker took the loss for the Gamecocks in relief of Hall. The junior right hander tossed 6.1 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits in his eighth start of the season. Becker fell to 1-3 on the year giving up two runs on five hits in just one inning on the mound.
The series finale is set for Sunday afternoon at 2pm ET (1pm CT).
