Founders Park
- South Carolina led 4-1 going to the fourth, then Alabama scored eight unanswered runs to take control and clinch the series win. With the loss, South Carolina is assured of a losing record for the regular season. The 29 losses match last year’s total, equaling the most in program history. USC has lost seven straight.
- After spotting Alabama a 1-0 lead in the first, the Gamecocks scored four runs in the second on a two-out, three-run homer by Jake Randolph, and an RBI single by KJ Scobey.
- The game was still 4-1 going to the fourth when the #9 hitter, JoJo Williamson, in just his seventh at-bat of the season, took Brandon Stone deep for a two-out, three-run homer to tie the game at 4-4.
- The Crimson Tide struck again with the long ball in the fifth, another three-run blast, this time by John Lamm off of reliever Logan Prisco, to make it a 7-4 game.
- Meantime, after giving up the four runs in the second, Alabama starter Zane Adams retired eight in a row until a two-out double by Tyler Bak in the fifth. He was stranded by a pop-up to short by Talmadge LeCroy.
- Another home run in the sixth, a two-run shot by reserve catcher Will Platner, gave the Tide a 9-4 advantage. Plattner replaced the starting catcher Brady Neal in the second inning after Neal took a shot off the facemask. He was hitting .155 on the season and had three hits and two RBIs on Saturday.
- The Gamecocks got back on the board in the sixth on a two-out, solo homer by Patrick Evans to make it 9-5 Alabama.
- USC had a potential rally brewing in the seventh until a base-running mistake short-circuited things. Alabama removed Adams to start the inning, replacing him with Matthew Heiberger. Randolph and Luke Yuhasz had back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners to open the inning. Scobey then popped to second, and Yuhasz went too far towards second and was doubled off. Bak followed with a walk, but Scobey ground out to third to end the inning.
- The Gamecocks tried to rally in the ninth down four runs. Randolph led off with a walk, and Yuhasz doubled to right, putting runners on second and third. Scobey followed with a long sac fly to right center, making it a 9-6 game. But Bak struck out, and LeCroy flied to center to end the game. USC finished 2-10 with runners in scoring position.
- Yuhasz led the offense with three hits. Stone took the loss to fall to 5-4. A positive was the one inning of work by Riley Goodman. He pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts.
- Adams took the win after working six innings and allowing five runs on six hits. He struck out nine as his record improved to 5-3.
- The loss dropped USC to 22-29 and ensured a losing regular season record with just five games left. The Gamecocks are 7-19 in SEC play. Alabama improved to 34-17 overall and 15-11 in the SEC.
- Alex Valentin will start Sunday for the Gamecocks in the final SEC home game of the season.
Monte Lee Postgame
