#Gamecocks young arms repel The Citadel 4-3 (AUDIO)

Charleston: South Carolina put its young arsenal of arms to the test against The Citadel, Tuesday, and the pups had just enough bite to lead the Gamecocks to a 4-3 victory at Joe Riley Park.

Will Tippett, Ethan Petry, Dalton Reeves and Kennedy Jones all registered an RBI, apiece, and Parker Noland scored twice. Tippett, who had struggled offensively throughout the early part of the season, hit a solo homer in the seventh to cap the scoring. The slick fielding shortstop has found his rhythm at the plate since he started focusing on just batting from the right side. Tippett has reached base in nine of his last 17 times at the plate and made a pair of brilliant plays moving to his left in the latter innings that helped the Gamecocks hold their lead.

Three of the five pitchers Mark Kingston sent to the mound were freshmen. One of those freshmen, righthander Parker Marlatt, helped USC escape a jam in the fourth and went on to pick up the win.

Petry got the scoring started when his first triple of the season plated Noland in the opening inning. Moments later, Petry crossed home on Reeve’s single to left.

The Gamecocks never trailed, but The Citadel kept the pressure on throughout the game. The Bulldogs had the game-tying run on base in the third, fourth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings, but were turned away each time. The Citadel left ten runners on base and left the bags full in the fourth.

Bulldogs DH Sawyer Reeves, brother to USC’s Dalton Reeves, nearly tied it in the ninth with a deep shot to left. The ballpark held it and Reeves had to settle for a double. He moved to third on a grounder but was stranded there when Garrett Gainey fanned Citadel first baseman Anthony Hausner for the final out.

South Carolina (26-11) gets back into SEC play with a three-game series against Arkansas, Friday. First pitch between the second-ranked Razorbacks and the 20th-ranked Gamecocks at Founders Park is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Box Score

Mark Kingston postgame comments