South Carolina (7-3) was on the ropes, entering Saturday after a disappointing 7-1 loss to Clemson on Friday.
But the Gamecocks flushed that loss to bounce back and even the three-game series with an 8-5 victory over the Tigers Saturday afternoon at the Fireflies’ Segra Park.
On Friday, South Carolina was held to a single hit, a ninth inning home run by Brady Allen, and needed to gain some momentum Saturday.
Standing in their way was sophomore Davis Sharpe, who entered with a team-high 11 scoreless innings and just a .195 batting average against. And through one inning, he looked unhittable.
Early on, it looked like it’d be a long afternoon for the Gamecocks. South Carolina, playing as the visiting team, went down in order to start the first. Thomas Farr, new to the rotation in place of Brett Kerry (who moved to the bullpen) looked shaky at best to start. He walked the first batter, allowed a single to the second, then threw a wild pitch to move the runners into scoring position before recording an out.
It seemed like Mark Kingston’s gamble was ill-advised. Farr looked shaky and it sure looked like South Carolina would have been better off starting Kerry. But Farr settled down, giving up just one run in the frame and allowing only one other hit in five innings. But the offense still needed to do its job.
Sharpe’s off-speed stuff was, well, sharp and he made the Gamecock batters look foolish early, retiring the first five Gamecock hitters with ease.
Then South Carolina adjusted. In the second inning, the Gamecocks stopped swinging at off-speed pitches, and instead sat on Sharpe’s high-80s fastball. With two outs, Dallas Beaver singled, Andrew Eyster tripled and Jeff Heinrich singled to give the Gamecocks a lead they’d never surrender.
"I don't think I got ahead of hitters," Sharpe said after the game. "When you're sitting fastball in a 2-0 count, it's easy to hit. I just wasn't landing enough curve balls and just didn't have enough feel today."
Wes Clarke opened the fourth inning with a monster home run off the scoreboard and the Gamecocks added another in the frame on Heinrich’s second RBI single of the game. They’d tack on two more in the seventh with an RBI single from Brady Allen and sacrifice fly from Heinrich and another in the eighth on a Bryant Bowen single and one in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from George Callil.
After the initial hiccup from Farr, he was lights out. He’d finish with five innings pitched, two hits a walk and two runs allowed, one unearned.
"Thomas Farr gave us a chance to win today," Kingston said. "I wish we didn't have to use Brett Kerry at the end, we shouldn't have had to, but we did. Farr gave us a quality start."
T.J. Shook entered in the sixth and looked dominant once again. Shook retired the side in the sixth then allowed just a walk in the seventh -- his first base runner allowed this year -- before immediately erasing the threat with a double play. But he ran into trouble in the eighth.
Shook got the first two in the eighth but allowed a single to Kier Meredith, his sixth hit of the weekend. It was the first hit Shook has allowed this year. Then, Shook left a ball up in the zone and Sharpe, who started started at designated hitter as well as pitcher, lifted one to left. With the aid of the wind, it cleared the wall in left for a 2-run home run.
Daniel Lloyd relieved Shook and got an immediate strike out to end the inning. But Lloyd also failed to complete his next inning, leaving it up to Brett Kerry, the pitcher Kingston intentionally moved to the bullpen. Inheriting two runners and up 8-4 with one out in the ninth. Kerry made things more difficult by walking the next batter.
But Kerry was moved because of his performance under pressure. He battled back to strike out the next batter. After a tough ball four call on a full count, Kerry got the potential winning run to fly out and complete the 2-out save.
The Gamecocks will face the Tigers in a rubber match Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in Clemson.
