Three SEC weeks, three series losses.

South Carolina baseball lost 7-5 to No. 1 Tennessee at Founders Park, confirming its third consecutive SEC series loss and fourth series loss against power four conference opponents overall this season.

This one was more competitive than most, but ended up in the same place. South Carolina led 4-3 after seven innings and even had the game tied 5-5 in the ninth, but a pair of two-run home runs spoiled the upset bid.

Tennessee took the lead in the eighth when Andrew Fischer continued tormenting the Gamecocks with a two-run home run off Brandon Stone. Fischer homered three times in one game against South Carolina last season while playing for Ole Miss, and had two more hits on Saturday.

South Carolina did fight back and tied the game on a Beau Hollins RBI single in the bottom half of the frame, but missed a golden opportunity to seize control. After a walk and four singles plated the run and loaded the bases with one out, catcher Gavin Braland was at the plate for the key at-bat of the game. Braland grounded to first, a play Tennessee turned into a 3-6-3 double play to escape the inning tied and get its offense back up with a chance to win the game.

And sure enough, it took advantage.

Cannon Peebles hit a two-run home run off Stone, shooting the Volunteers up 7-5. Reliever Nate Snead worked around a lead-off walk to pitch a scoreless bottom half of the inning, and clinched the series for the visitors.

All of it overshadowed what was another very strong start for Jarvis Evans Jr., though. Evans stepped into the weekend rotation in emergency duty for the injured Dylan Eskew last week, and picked up where he left off in midweeks. Evans turned in arguably the best start of the season by a Gamecock pitcher, allowing just three runs in six innings against Tennessee’s powerful offense.

A Jase Woita home run, a Henry Kaczmar sacrifice fly and two runs driven in on fielder’s choices accounted for the first four South Carolina runs of the game, but excluding Woita’s homer, the season-long problem of a lack of power showed up again.

Despite leading 11-8 in the hit column, all but one of those 11 hits were singles, and the lack of extra base hits doomed them when there were opportunities for big innings.

South Carolina will try to salvage one game from the series on Sunday in a noon first pitch live on SEC Network. Neither team has announced its starting pitcher yet.

*******************************************************************************************

Looking to continue the conversation? Join us on the insider's forum to talk all things South Carolina baseball