No. 4 Kentucky baseball (33-9 16-5 SEC) dropped the series finale against No. 24 South Carolina (19-14 11-10 SEC) 10-0 via run rule Sunday.
With the loss, the Bat Cats have now dropped their second consecutive SEC series and four out of their last five.
Both offenses were kept off the board in the first two innings until Wildcat starter Mason Moore ran into trouble in the third.
After getting the first out, Gavin Casas tagged Moore for a double into left center field before a walk gave the Gamecocks another baserunner.
Ethan Petry then crushed what would’ve been a three-run home run over the left field wall, but he passed Brinling while rounding first so, by rule, Petry was ruled out and it was scored as a two-run single.
Moore worked out of trouble in the third, but things got no easier in the fourth.
Cole Messina hit a leadoff double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt before Kennedy Jones hit a ground ball to third and Mitchell Daly tried to throw out Messina at home. He was initially called out, but after review it was determined he beat the tag by Devin Burkes and was safe, giving the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead.
Moore worked out of trouble again, but his luck ran out in a nightmare fifth inning.
Brinling led off the fifth with a single before a walk put two runners on. Parker Noland advanced both runners on a sacrifice bunt before the Wildcats intentionally walked Messina to load the bases.
Things fell apart for Moore quickly as Blak Jackson and Jones singled to bring home three runs and Dalton Reeves laid down a bunt to score another run.
The inning continued to unravel for Moore as he hit Talmadge LeCroy, which was followed by back-to-back singles from Casas and Brinling that scored two more runs as the Gamecocks then led 9-0 as Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione headed to the mound to get his starter.
Colby Frieda relieved Moore and ended the fifth, but he ran into trouble of his own in the sixth after he loaded the bases by walking Noland and Messina and hitting Jackson.
Jones hit a sacrifice fly to score Noland and make the score 10-0 Gamecocks before Frieda walked Reeves to reload the bases, which ended his afternoon. Evan Byers came on and closed out the sixth.
Much like the rest of the game, the Wildcats were unable to get the offense going in the seventh and were unable to score, resulting in the run rule going into effect, ending the game.
The Bat Cats finished the game with five total hits, two of which came off the bat of Daly.
Kentucky will attempt to rebound when they head back home to begin a three-game series against Arkansas at Kentucky Proud Park on Friday, May 3, with first pitch of game one scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.
