In their first ever meeting with South Carolina, Bethune-Cookman appeared unfazed by the Gamecocks. As a matter of fact, the Wildcats held an early 2-1 advantage over USC on Friday night at Founders Park in Columbia. However, that lead proved to be fool’s gold as Carolina scored 17 unanswered to run rule the visitors from Daytona Beach 20-3 in seven innings. The win improved the Gamecocks to 14-1 on the season, while the Wildcats dropped to 8-6 overall. With the threat of inclement weather on Sunday, the two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1pm to conclude their three-game series.
Two innings delivered the fatal blows for USC, as the Gamecocks scored nine times in the fourth and eight in the sixth to secure the victory. Each of those massive innings featured grand slams, one by Dylan Brewer in the 4th and the other by Will McGillis in the sixth. According to USC, the last time the Gamecocks hit two grand slams in a game was on February 27, 2016, when Alex Destino and John Jones did the trick in a win over Penn State. All told, the Gamecocks blasted five home runs to raise their season total to forty-three. USC entered the weekend two shy of Florida’s total (40) for the national lead in that category. Brewer, a transfer from Clemson, also led Carolina in RBIs with five on the night.
Will Sanders (2-1) picked up the win, allowing three runs on five hits in six innings of work. The junior right-hander struck out eight Wildcats, walking just one. Louis Lipthratt (1-1) suffered the loss for Bethune-Cookman, giving up nine runs on six hits in 3.1 IP.
