No. 11 South Carolina dropped its midweek game on Tuesday night against North Carolina 3-2 in 10 innings at Truist Field in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In the 10th inning, redshirt sophomore southpaw Julian Bosnic allowed a go-ahead RBI single off the bat of sophomore outfielder Caleb Roberts to give UNC the lead for good.
"Great ballgame. I thought both teams pitched really well. They got one more hit at the end," head coach Mark Kingston said. "The defense in that game, on both sides, was really good. Pitching was really good. Hitting on both sides struggled some, but again, they got one more hit there at the end."
On offense, it was a difficult night for the Gamecocks, as they amassed three hits.
South Carolina was held hitless by Tar Heels pitching until senior right fielder Andrew Eyster hit an opposite field single with two outs in the fourth inning.
The Gamecocks' next hit came in the sixth from junior left fielder Josiah Sightler as he smacked his fourth home run of the season.
Besides that, the Gamecocks collected one more hit in the ninth, as junior first baseman David Mendham hit a one-out double.
With runners on-base, the Gamecock offense was held hitless in nine at-bats. They also had their opportunities with runners in scoring position but could not get the job done, as they went 0-for-6 on the night.
"We were a little bit too anxious tonight. I don't know if it's because we came off a weekend where we hit a lot of home runs and we wanted to do it here in this big fancy ballpark," Kingston said. "We weren't quite as selective as we normally are tonight. I think that cost us. We only had eight strikeouts, but we chased a lot of balls and put balls in play weakly, which we generally don't do. So I thought that was the difference."
Freshman right-hander Jack Mahoney put together another quality start, pitching in four innings of one-run baseball. After allowing four consecutive hits in the first inning, he settled down, as he allowed two more hits and struck out four.
Kingston said Mahoney showed "a lot of poise there in that first inning, bases loaded" and a "glimpse of what he will be in the future."
What's next?
Looking to get back on track, the Gamecocks will be back at Founders Park on Friday night to take on Missouri.
Redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Thomas Farr (2-1, 2.97 ERA) will get the start for South Carolina. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be streamed on SEC Network+.