An impressive rally, but not enough.

South Carolina baseball fell behind 6-3 early in its series-opener at Texas A&M, only to fight back and tie the game 7-7 in the eighth. But the Gamecocks missed a golden opportunity to take the lead in the top of the ninth, and the Aggies won 8-7 in extra innings when Caden Sorrell deposited Brendan Sweeney's first pitch of the 10th inning over the wall in left to end the game in style.

Starter Jake McCoy struggled for South Carolina (20-15, 2-11 SEC), allowing six runs in just three innings, in particular with his command. The sophomore issued seven free passes thanks to five walks and two hit batters, and threw just 35 strikes on his 81 pitches. He ran into his most trouble with a 3-1 lead in the third inning. Solo home runs by Beau Hollins and Ethan Petry plus a successful Cayden Gaskin squeeze bunt provided him a lead, but control went away in a hurry.

McCoy issued four consecutive free passes leading off the third, two walks and two hit batters. At one point he threw 11 consecutive pitches outside the strike zone, and hit catcher Bear Harrison with the bases loaded. Two batters later first baseman Blake Binderup finally got a pitch in the zone and crushed it, a grand slam to flip the game into a 6-3 Texas A&M (18-15, 4-9 SEC lead and stem all of South Carolina's positive early momentum.

The Gamecocks gradually battled back offensively through the game, though. They crept closer with two runs in the fifth when one scored on an error and Jordan Carrion drove in the other with a sacrifice fly, and Nathan Hall cut the deficit back to one run with a homer in the eighth after the Aggies had restored a two-run advantage. Finally South Carolina found the tying blow in the eighth on a two-out, two-strike RBI single by pinch hitter Jase Woita, scoring Carrion.

A stellar relief effort through nine innings saw a combination of Ashton Crowther, Caleb Jones and Sweeney retire 14 batters in a row to give the offense a chance, but it was not enough. South Carolina stranded two runners in the eighth and could not score in the ninth despite getting the go-ahead run to third with one out, only for Sorrell to snap the outs streak with his game-ending blast in the 10th.

South Carolina will try to even the series and create a rubber game tomorrow when Matthew Becker takes the ball against Texas A&M's Justin Lamkin in a battle of left-handed starters. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. EST, 6 p.m. local time in College Station.

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

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