HOOVER, AL: South Carolina saw a lead evaporate in the late innings of an 11-10 loss to LSU Thursday night. Friday night against Kentucky, the Gamecocks made just enough good plays and pitches to hold off Kentucky 6-5 in an elimination game of the SEC Tournament.
The Gamecocks now move on to the semi-finals for the first time since 2017 where they will get a rematch with LSU Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM.
The Gamecocks spotted the Wildcats a 2-0 lead in the top of the second, but they wiped that out with a Gavin Casas three-run homer in the bottom of the frame for a 3-2 lead.
Ugly defense gifted the Wildcats two runs in the fourth. The Gamecocks committed two miscues in the inifield that led to a pair of unearned runs and put Kentucky back on top 4-3.
USC tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on a leadoff home run by Will Tippett. They then loaded the bases with two outs and scored two runs without the benefit of a hit. Kevin Jones was plunked for an RBI and Dalton Reeves was walked for another. That put the Gamecocks up 6-4 and from there it was just a matter of holding on because they had just one hit the rest of the way.
A big reason the Gamecocks were able to protect their lead this time was the performance of relief pitcher Parker Marlatt. He came in and got the last out of the problematic fourth then retired ten of the next thirteen batters he faced. However, Marlatt got into some eighth inning trouble yielding a leadoff single and a one-out RBI double as the Wildcats closed to within 6-5.
Then came the biggest defensive play of the game for USC. Micheal Becker replaced Marlatt and got a line drive to Ethan Petry at first, and Petry was able to double up the runner at second to end the inning and protect the lead.
Becker set the Wildcats down in order in the ninth with two strike outs and a pop up to earn his first save of the season with Marlatt earning the win to improve to 3-0. Dylan Eskew pitched the first two innings and Tyler Dean followed. The Gamecock pitchers only allowed five hits and two earned runs while striking out ten and walking four.
Not lost in the joy of the Gamecock win was the injury to Casas who was playing third base in this one in place of Talmadge LeCroy. Casas suffered an injury to his hamate bone on a swing in the bottom of the fifth and was to be evaluated later Friday evening.
The Gamecocks are now 36-22 and are seeking their first trip to the championship game since winning it all in Hoover exactly 20 years ago.
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