Funny what a difference a day makes in baseball. Thursday night South Carolina played Texas A&M into extra innings before losing on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth. Friday night the Aggies needed only seven innings to dispatch the Gamecocks 17-0 in a run-rule game. The Gamecocks have now lost all five of their SEC series this season.
A four-run bottom of the first for Texas A&M off of USC starter Matthew Becker set the tone for the night. After a scoreless second inning, the Aggies scored two runs each in the third and fourth innings, seven in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth to finish off the rout.
The Aggies had just ten hits but benefited from eight walks and three hit batters. Becker (2-3) pitched the first three innings and allowed four runs on six hits. Cooper Parks followed and yielded five runs on two hits and five walks. Roman Kimball pitched the fifth and gave up four runs on two hits and two walks. He also uncorked two wild pitches. And Zach Russell pitched the final inning and gave up two runs on two hits.
The Gamecocks had five hits, four of them singles. Beau Hollins had a single and a double.
The Gamecocks are 20-16 overall and 2-12 in the SEC.
Box Score
Paul Mainieri postgame