No. 4 Kentucky baseball (32-8, 15-4 SEC) fell to the No. 24 South Carolina Gamecocks (28-13, 10-9 SEC) by a score of 6-5 in extra innings on Friday.
Both offenses struggled out of the gate, with two scoreless innings to start the game.
In the top of the third, Ryan Waldschmidt was able to get some offense going with a solo home run to take a 1-0 lead, however the Gamecocks were quickly able to tie the game in the bottom of the third after an RBI single from Kennedy Jones brought in Austin Brinling for the tying run.
Both offenses once again went dormant for the next five innings. During these innings, Trey Pooser’s dominant performance was on display. Pooser ended his seven innings of work with 11 strikeouts and only allowed one earned run off just four hits.
In the eighth, Jackson Nove took over and continued Kentucky’s dominant stretch of pitching. Nove did not give up any hits and struck out a batter to keep the score tied at 1-1 before the Cats’ offense exploded in the top of the ninth with three runs.
Ryan Nicholson took the lead with a single that brought in Grant Smith and Nick Lopez, which was followed by a sacrifice bunt by Patrick Herrera that brought in Mitchell Daly, making the score 4-1.
However, the Gamecocks followed this up with an offensive stretch of their own, hitting three solo home runs to tie the game at 4-4. Cameron O’Brien was able to keep the game tied as he struck out two batters for the final two outs of the inning.
Waldschmidt opened the tenth inning with a walk and followed that by stealing second, which put him in scoring position. Nick Lopez batted in an RBI single, bringing in Waldschmidt from second and taking a 5-4 lead for Kentucky.
However, just as they had done all night, the Gamecocks responded in the bottom of the tenth. Jones got on base with a walk and was followed by a walk-off home run by Blake Jackson to win the game by a score of 6-5.
The Cats will look to tie the series up on Saturday, April 27, with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m. E.T.
