STARKVILLE – The University of South Carolina baseball team took the lead with a two-run sixth and added a pair of runs in the eighth in a 7-3 win over Mississippi State Friday night at Dudy Noble Field.

Carolina put up a run in the top of the first as Jordan Carrion’s single plated Nathan Hall. Mississippi State came back with a three-run first, but the Gamecocks tied the game in the fourth. Carrion doubled and scored on Beau Hollins’ second home run of the year.

The Gamecocks took a 5-3 lead in the top of the sixth as a pair of Bulldog errors with two outs scored two runs. The Gamecocks added insurance in the ninth as Hollins drove in Carrion and KJ Scobey with a single up the middle.

Jake McCoy earned the win for the Gamecocks. He went 5.1 innings and allowed five hits and three runs with a pair of strikeouts. Caleb Jones came in the sixth and recorded two big outs to get the Gamecocks back to the dugouts. Then, Brendan Sweeney went nine up, nine down in the final three innings to record his fifth save of the year. He struck out four in the outing.

Hollins was 4-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored in the win. Carrion added two hits for the Gamecocks.

POSTGAME NOTES

Hollins now has a pair of four-hit games. He had four hits in the Tennessee game on Saturday.Carrion is now hitting .415 in SEC play.Sweeney has 12 strikeouts in eight innings in conference-only games.

UP NEXT

Carolina and Mississippi State continue its three-game set on Saturday, April 5 with a 1 p.m. EDT first pitch. The game time was moved up with storms in the forecast for Saturday evening. The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.