Aggies Walk-Off Over Gamecocks
South Carolina (29-22) had a win snatched away in the 9th inning, as they fell to No. 2 Texas A&M (42-8). The loss means the Gamecocks will have to wait for Sunday's matchup to try for a series victory, which they haven’t accomplished since beating Vanderbilt in mid-April.
The Gamecocks have now lost five of eight, losing series against Auburn and Tennessee coming into the weekend.
The loss drops South Carolina to 11-15 in SEC play with four conference games until the SEC tournament.
Offense Comes to Life
The Gamecocks pounded out 21 hits, a season-high and the most since April of 2013. The team hit four home runs, also a season-high and a first in the Holbrook era.
Shortstop Marcus Mooney led the charge, going 4-4 with two walks and two runs scored.
Second baseman Max Schrock added four hits in six trips, driving in a run.
Six of the Gamecock’s nine starters had multi-hit games in the losing effort.
Pitching Struggles to Hold Lead
Gamecock starter Clarke Schmidt went four innings, allowing six runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out four.
The loss went to Taylor Widener, who entered the game in the 9th with USC leading 14-13. With runners on the corners, the sophomore gave up a double that drove in both the tying and winning runs, giving A&M a victory and Widener a blown save.
Coming Up Next
The Gamecocks finish up their weekend series with the Aggies Sunday afternoon, then return home to Columbia Tuesday to finish the regular season against USC Upstate and LSU.