Gamecocks win 11-9 thriller to even Clemson series
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Carson Hornung achieved ultimate redemption in one swing.
In the fifth inning of South Carolina’s middle game against Clemson, he was thrown out at home plate trying to score from third base on a wild pitch with the bases loaded.
In the bottom of the seventh with the Gamecocks down 7-5, he smacked a three-run home run out to right field off Clemson’s Jay Dill to give his team its first lead of the game.
And after a surreal game that went from 0-0 to 8-7 in the space of three innings, South Carolina prevailed 11-9 to even up the series and set up a rubber game Sunday at Founders Park.
"The guys picked me up," Hornung said. "I got thrown out to end the inning with the bases loaded and Wimmer up, and our guys bounced back. They gave us a shot, and they kept giving us opportunities. And then I got up, and I wanted to prove myself and get back in it."
Noah Hall and Tristan Smith put up four zeroes apiece to start the game, but the Tigers cracked the scoring seal with three runs in the top of the fifth. Left fielder Chad Fairey lined a two-run single up the middle off Hall to get the scoring started, and a bases loaded double play plated the third run.
Just minutes later after South Carolina loaded the bases with two outs for Braylen Wimmer, Hornung got overly aggressive. The 1-1 pitch trickled just away from Clemson catcher Cooper Ingle, but an overeager Hornung tried to score on the play. Ingle flipped the ball to pitcher Joe Allen, who tagged Hornung out at the plate to strand three runners.
The Gamecocks tied the game in the sixth with three runs from an Ethan Petry RBI double and a two-run Talmadge LeCroy single, but stranded three more runners after a bases loaded lineout. Clemson took advantage of that newfound momentum to tag Matthew Becker with four runs on four hits in the top of the seventh, making it a 7-3 game at the seventh inning stretch.
At that point South Carolina had only scored five runs in 15 innings over the weekend and needed at least four runs in the last three to keep it alive.
It ripped off eight in the next two innings.
"I'm really proud of how we were in the dugout," Mark Kingston said. "We weren't hanging our heads. We all know it's a 27-out game, it's a nine inning game. Because we have some veterans who have been through this before, they know comebacks actually can happen. If you have the kind of offense we do and you just keep grinding on teams, good things can happen. It doesn't guarantee it, but you always have a chance."
A Petry RBI single made it 7-4 and then following a Gavin Casas walk and a LeCroy sacrifice fly to make it 7-5, Hornung came to the plate trying to wipe away his mistake. He saw two strikes, laid off a fastball high and then on a 1-2 pitch, got something he liked.
His three-run home run to right field brought the garnet half of the crowd into a frenzy, turned the game around and changed the entire trajectory of the weekend. After Cade Austin fired a crucial shutdown inning to get the bats back up there.
They did the rest.
Caleb Denny smoked a double high off the wall in left field to make it 9-7 and then in what proved to be the fatal blast of the day, Cole Messina launched a pitch off the back wall behind the stands in left field. He watched his towering home run off Dill, admiring it for a few seconds before flipping his bat with a celebration.
"That was probably the greatest moment of my life," Messina said. "It was unreal. Yesterday my dad came up to me in the game before the game in the bullpen and he said, 'you've waited your whole life for this. You've dreamed about it.'"
Clemson put up two runs in the ninth on a Will Taylor single and brought the tying run to the plate, but Chris Veach shut the door to preserve the win.
The rubber game of the series will be tomorrow afternoon in Columbia at 1:30 p.m.
"I'm excited," Messina said. "We're strong at home. Founders Park I'm sure is going to be a maniac arena."