Diamond Extra: Georgia Game 1

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ATHENS, Ga. - The only bright spot for No. 9 South Carolina in a 3-1 loss to Georgia Friday night at Foley Field was junior catcher Grayson Greiner. Greiner was the only Gamecock to collect more than one hit, one of which was a game-tying home run in the top of the eighth inning off Georgia starter Ryan Lawlor.

"It was just a fastball up in the zone," Greiner said. "I was just looking for something to tie the game up.

"I got the pitch I wanted, put a good swing on it and was able to drive it out of here."

The home run, Greiner's team-leading sixth of the season, was only the second allowed this season by Lawlor, breaking a streak of 68.2 innings without allowing a homer.

For Greiner, who went 2-for-3, his home run was hardly any comfort on a night when the rest of the lineup was a combined 1-for-25 (.040). Even with him, USC was 3-for-28 (.107), the worst offensive showing of the year for the Gamecocks.

"We didn't do near enough offensively to win the game," Greiner said. "We didn't deserve to win the game based on our plate approach all night.

"It was frustrating. We kept swinging at that curveball down and didn't make much of an adjustment.

USC's defense was no better when it mattered most, Greiner added.

"We kind of gave the game away in that last inning," Greiner said of the two-unearned run, two-error bottom of the eighth. "We didn't do enough defensively.

"We had three hits, two errors and one run. That's not a very good recipe to win an SEC game on a Friday night. That's all on us. We've got to try and flush it and come out tomorrow and get a win and not lose the series.

"We put on a pretty embarrassing show out there tonight."

WALKING DEAD, PT. 1: South Carolina's injury list won't stop growing. With the addition of DC Arendas' head/ear injury when a ball from batting practice took a bad hop and knocked him from the lineup, the list of unavailable USC players who started games this season grew to four, along with Max Schrock, Elliott Caldwell and Connor Bright.

Jordan Gore, who played second base Friday, played through an upper respiratory infection that also struck Arendas this week.

Greiner said the team can't focus on the negative aspects of the personnel losses.

"We can't look at it that way," Greiner said. "We're in the home stretch of the SEC because a lot of our guys are out.

"Max, Connor, DC, Gore was playing sick as a dog. He looked terrible today. I credit him for coming out here and giving it his all, because that's really all we had. Our whole middle infield is banged up, we have outfielders banged up, it's just how it is."

WALKING DEAD, PT. II: Friday's game featured only one walk. It came from Georgia starter Ryan Lawlor in the top of the ninth inning. Neither Jordan Montgomery nor Joel Seddon walked a batter.

STEP BACK: With Florida's 7-2 win over Alabama Friday in Tuscaloosa, the Gamecocks moved four games back in the SEC with eight games to play.

FRIDAY'S SEC SCOREBOARD:

No. 5 Florida 7, No. 12 Alabama 3

No. 8 LSU 5, Texas A&M 4, 10 innings

No. 11 Ole Miss 3, Arkansas 2

No. 20 Vanderbilt 8, Missouri 3

Tennessee 8, No. 25 Kentucky 2

Mississippi State 3, Auburn 0