Blake Jackson was not sure if he got it. Mark Kingston paused, too. A collection of 7,467 fans who had already been through an emotional ringer disguised as a baseball game hoped, but could only wonder.

By the thinnest of margins, maybe a foot over the wall in left field above that thin yellow stripe dividing disappointment from elation, he got it.

A walk-off home run, South Caroilna's first in five years.

The transfer outfielder from Charlotte had South Carolina’s only extra base hit of the first eight innings, a second inning double.

Then he homered leading off the ninth. And again, ending the 10th.

South Carolina stunned No. 4 Kentucky in extra innings with a two-run walk-off home run, landing the Gamecocks a 6-5 victory after trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth and 5-4 in the 10th.

"That’s as good a win as we’ve had all year," Kingston said. "Sometimes you have to come up here after a loss and say, 'man that’s just baseball.' Tonight we won a game, and it’s hard to figure out how we did it other than sometimes that’s just baseball and the kids just didn’t give up.”

It was a stupendous, almost impossible rally in the frame prior, as the Gamecocks spun an evening which only featured four hits through the first eight innings on its head with three powerful clubs.

Another night of close but not close enough, so it appeared. The only escape valve left was to scratch three runs across against Kentucky (32-8, 15-4 SEC) closer Johnny Hummel, who had allowed just three runs total in his first 15 outings of the season.

Jackson led off the inning with a solo homer. Enough for maybe, at best, a glimmer of hope.

Just one miniscule opening, particularly with the No. 8 and No. 9 hole hitters in the lineup due up and only two outs to work with. Mark Kingston went to his bench, electing for Dalton Reeves to pinch hit in Dylan Brewer’s spot.

Home run, onto the berm.

He tried it again, summoning Gavin Casas to hit for Lee Ellis.

Same result, turning the deficit into a tie game and Founders Park into a madhouse after a previously docile first eight innings.

Just when they thought they were out, the Gamecocks pulled them back in.

“It just felt like the right move at the right time," Kingston said. "We were running out of outs. We had what we thought were better chances to extend the game with those hitters coming in, and we gave them an opportunity.”

Ty Good’s relief outing kept South Carolina (28-13, 10-9 SEC) in it for most of the evening. He entered the night averaging less than two innings per outing, but fired five shutout frames to carry his club all the way into the ninth. But when Kingston asked for a sixth frame, it was too much.

Good allowed the first two runners of the inning to reach, both came around to score plus an additional one reached and scored off Garrett Gainey, swinging the pitcher’s duel into a three-run advantage for the Wildcats.

"At 80 pitches you could tell he was running out of gas," Kingston said. "He had dominated for a long time, but [pitching coach] Matt [Williams] just looked at me and said he was out of gas.”

Kentucky (32-8, 15-4 SEC) starter Trey Pooser matched him pitch for pitch, becoming the second opposing Friday starter in as many weeks to record double-digit strikeouts on a mostly feeble South Carolina lineup.

Those captivating dueling three-run ninth innings forced extras, but Kentucky nearly popped the balloon when Nick Lopez’s two-out, two-strike base hit scored Waldschmidt and restored a lead for the Wildcats.

But emergency shortstop Talmadge LeCroy — only playing there because of Will Tippett’s injury and the pinch hitting moves forcing Ellis out in the ninth — made a leaping grab on a hot shot to end the 10th inning.

Out of position, yet somehow in the perfect one to save a key insurance run from crossing.

Maybe at that point, it should have been clear it was destiny.

You get a play like that, and a rally like that, and how can you not win?

Kennedy Jones worked a walk, sending Jackson back to the plate as the winning run.

He cracked one to left, and by just a couple of inches over that wall in left, it cleared.

“I wasn’t sure if I got it," Jackson said. "The wind was blowing out. I knew I hit it high enough for the wind to take it. I was just praying that would happen, and luckily it did."

In a season which has been defined by near misses, frustration and a collection of nights where ending one swing short had been the story, this was the night the group had waited for. The game which could be a springboard to a strong finish, a game where they came through with the chips down.

After going 0-4 in series-openers decided by one run prior to Friday, they kept digging and struck gold. One win which felt like ten, an exhale and almost something of a reminder there is still enough season left in 2024 to change the narrative.

“That’s something that our guys will be able to draw on for the rest of the year," Kingston said. "Whether it creates momentum we’ll see, but they showed a lot of heart tonight.”

Lift-off for Jackson, and perhaps lift-off for this team.

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