Tennessee 11-USC 6 Game Summary
- The Gamecocks had a pair of three-run innings and 11 hits, but that wasn’t enough to prevent a 13th straight loss as the pitchers gave up 15 hits, including two homers and two doubles, and the defense committed three errors, leading to four unearned runs.
- It’s the fifth time in the last seven SEC tournaments the Gamecocks have been eliminated after one game.
- The Vols jumped on Gamecock starter Brandon Stone for two runs in the bottom of the first, but the Gamecocks took the lead with a three-run third inning.
- With one out and runners on second and third, Patrick Evans scored the runs with a triple to right-center. He later scored on a sac bunt by Talmadge LeCroy, just the 13th sacrifice bunt on the season.
- The lead didn’t last long. In the bottom of the inning, the Vols scored six runs on six hits and an error. Five of the runs scored with two outs, and two were unearned due to an error on shortstop KJ Scobey.
- Tennessee made it 9-3 in the fourth with another unearned run when catcher Talmadge LeCroy dropped the ball on a throw home from Scobey with the runner coming in from third.
- USC made some noise in the seventh with a leadoff homer by Evans and a two-run shot by Will Craddock to make it a 9-6 game.
- The Vols put the game away in the eighth with a pair of solo home runs off of Alex Philpott.
- Stone took the loss to fall to 5-5 on the season. He allowed eight runs, five earned, on nine hits and struck out four in 2.2 innings. Zach Russell, Philpott and Parker Marlatt worked the rest of the way.
- Evans led the offense with three hits and three RBIs. The Gamecocks did strike out 13 times.
- Cam Appenzeller (6-1), a one-time USC commitment, earned the win by allowing three runs on six hits over five innings. He struck out five and walked three.
- The Gamecocks end the season at 22-35. The 22 wins are the fewest since Bobby Richardson’s first team went 18-12 in 1971. And of course, the 35 losses are a program record.
Monte Lee & Patrick Evans Postgame
