The Gamecocks were one out away from evening the series, until—all of a sudden—they weren’t. Vanderbilt used a clutch two-out RBI single to tie the game at three and would later win in extra innings.
Now, they’re looking for a way to win one game in the series and get some momentum heading into Tuesday’s top-25 showdown against North Carolina.
“It’s obviously a very difficult loss,” head coach Chad Holbrook said. “They’re hard to take when you’re so close to winning. We have to find a way to get over that hump and get that 27th out.”
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The Gamecocks dropped their second straight SEC series with Friday’s 5-3 loss in 13 innings, and are now 6-5 through their first 11 games in the conference.
Friday, they jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Vandy stormed back to score two runs in the fourth inning and the tying run in the ninth. Julian Infante launched a two-run home run in the 13th that would be the difference.
The Gamecocks only had seven base runners on three hits after the third inning and didn’t had just one runner in scoring position after taking a 3-0 lead. As a whole the team hit 7-for-46 with seven strikeouts.
“Things aren’t really going our way right now. We hit some balls on the nose and they make a great play,” Holbrook said. “The ones we do square up seem to get caught. When the game’s on the line, they found a way to tough it through the six hole.”
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Clarke Schmidt, who pitched a gem through seven innings, didn’t get the win and stays at 4-0 on the year. He gave up just two runs and struck out 11 batters, one away from tying a career high.
Gamecock pitching struck out 17 batters Friday but offensively couldn’t scratch across the big run.
“It’s gut wrenching for everyone: if you pitched today, if you hit today, the fans, anyone who supports this team it’s obviously a gut-wrenching loss,” Schmidt said. “We got to wipe it and come back tomorrow and get a win out of this. You get so many SEC games to play and even if you don’t win the series you have to scrape something out. We got to come out ready to play tomorrow.”
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South Carolina (20-10, 6-5 SEC) will play Vandy in the final game of the series tomorrow at noon on ESPN2. Adam Hill will start for the Gamecocks looking to get the team back on track.
Of the team’s 10 losses this season, nine have been by no more than two runs.
“It wears on you, that’s for sure. But you have to have some toughness and competitiveness and treat one of thirty games in the league. You have to treat it like a separate entity and come to play and lay it on the line,” Holbrook said. “They don’t ask you how many series you win at the end of the year, they ask you how many games you won. It’s an opportunity to play tomorrow and hopefully our guys pick themselves up and play a great game tomorrow.”
