Jeff Heinrich was maybe the Gamecocks' unluckiest hitter through the first seven games.

Time and time again he'd hit the ball hard and time and time again he'd find a glove, sporting just a .091 average in 22 at-bats.

Tuesday night he wasn't unlucky.

Heinrich delivered the go-ahead hit in the sixth inning, poking a RBI single up the middle to secure a 6-5 win over North Florida.

“A ton,” Mark Kingston said of his bad luck. “That was probably not hit as well as probably 10 of the balls he’s hit so far this year that have turned into outs. This one was well laced and it was a big, clutch hit…It’s good to see him rewarded because he’s taken a ton of really good at-bats.”

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Heinrich’s was just one of 12 hits the Gamecock offense had Tuesday night in a much-needed offensive showing after dropping a series to Northwestern at home last weekend.

It didn't start out great for South Carolina, falling behind 4-1 after a really sloppy second inning where starter Andy Peters walked the bases loaded and John Gilreath gave up all three inherited runners and allowed another one to cross the plate.

The nightmare inning included three walks, two errors, two hits and a wild pitch, prompting a team talk from Kingston in between innings.

"In that game there’s a fine line between trying to help them relax if they’re pressing or if you need to give them a little kick in the butt. Truthfully I did a little bit of both. I let them know after the game I was probably a little more on edge than normal because of this weekend and because of what’s ahead of us. I wanted us to play good enough tonight to get some momentum," he said. "I thought the last seven innings were more how we want to play.”

Things changed after that with the Gamecocks (6-2) scoring twice in the second on a two-run, 432-foot homer from George Callil, who's now hitting .333 on the year with nine RBI.

“I tweaked a few things in the fall and tried some things and figured out what worked best and what didn’t," he said. "I tried to cut down on the excess movement and really simplify it by trying to hit it up the middle ever pitch. That way it helped me stay on the ball and see it a little better. I have to try and continue that.”

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Bryant Bowen—when he wasn't destroying a fan's beer on a foul ball—homered in the third to tie the game, his second home run of the season.

“I was really excited to see 93 for the first time this year," he said. "Pretty early in the at-bat I fouled a ball off my foot and I thought they were going to keep pounding me in and in and in; he gave me a show me breaking ball and hung that. I thought I popped up to left-center field and the ball made its way out of the yard.”

After UNF took the lead back in the fifth, Wes Clarke singled down the left field line to tie the game again before Heinrich delivered in the sixth.

Then it was up to the Gamecock bullpen with both Julian Bosnic and TJ Shook shutting things down the final 4.2 innings.

Bosnic (1-0) got out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth with two groundouts, sparking a 2.2-inning performance where he allowed just one baserunner on a walk in just his second outing since Tommy John surgery.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been out there. Just getting out there for a few innings, my arm felt really good in the bullpen and felt really good out there. It was just a good outing all around.”

Shook, who picked up a two-inning save, slammed the door with five strikeouts, including punching out the side in the ninth.

“He will be a key guy back there," Kingston said. "I want to get to the point where our bullpen and every guy we put out there is dominant and doesn’t have to be overused and we don’t have to worry about them walking guys.”

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Player of the game: Julian Bosnic pitched out of a huge jam in the fifth and got two strikeouts, picking up the first win of his college career.

Pivotal moment: Colin Burgess laid down a great bunt to move Wimmer over and put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Two batters later, Heinrich gave the Gamecocks the lead.

Up next: South Carolina starts its Reedy River Rivalry Friday night at home against Clemson with Carmen Mlodzinski (2-0, 0.64 ERA) expected to start. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. on the SEC Network Plus.