Off the bat, it looked like it was going be an early dagger in South Carolina’s chances of winning. Already trailing by three in the second inning, the Gamecocks couldn’t afford this type of mistake.
But just when nothing was going right for the Gamecocks, Austin Brinling leaped at the left center field wall and robbed what would’ve been a grand slam for Missouri. Instead of taking a 7-1 lead, the Tigers had to settle for a sacrifice fly.
While a four-run inning was still an early blow in the game, this play by Brinling would become the difference maker. After trailing for most of Sunday afternoon, No. 15 South Carolina came from behind to pick up a 9-4 win over Missouri.
The win gives the Gamecocks (32-15, 13-11 SEC) their first series victory in CoMo since 2013.
[GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]
Still trailing by three runs going into the seventh, the offense struggled to do much up to that point. But Dalton Reeves led off the frame with a solo homer into right to give South Carolina some life.
Later in the inning with two outs and a runner on second, Missouri right-hander Bryce Mayer was behind in a 1-0 count. And with Ethan Petry at the plate, he made the unwise decision to leave his next pitch in the zone. As a result, Petry lifted a two-run homer into deep center to tie the game at four.
In the next inning, South Carolina would retake the lead, as Reeves laid down a perfect bunt. A bad throw from third that sailed into right field allowed Blake Jackson to score easily from second.
That wouldn’t be all for the Gamecock offense, though. Gavin Casas brought home another run with an RBI single, followed by a sacrifice fly off the bat of Brinling. Just like that, it was a 7-4 game.
[On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]
Any chance at a comeback wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for South Carolina’s bullpen stepping up. After a brief start from Dylan Eskew, who only lasted 1.1 innings, Garrett Gainey came in and looked about as good as he has all season.
The left-hander tossed 3.2 scoreless innings and gave up just one hit. He struck out five and didn’t surrender any walks. It was an overall great weekend for Gainey, who also pitched 2.1 scoreless innings and struck out five on Friday.
After that, Connor McCreery came in and picked up right where Gainey left off. Before a weather delay with two outs in the eighth, the right-hander gave up one hit and struck out four with a walk in 2.2 innings of work.
Once the delay came to an end, Chris Veach came in and got a quick strikeout to end the eighth. Cole Messina would complete his big weekend with a solo homer in the ninth to extend the lead to four.
Messina finished the series going 7-for-11 with two homers, a double, triple and seven RBIs.
Veach came back out for the ninth and sealed the deal after a two-out walk. As a whole, the bullpen gave up no runs on two hits and struck out 11.
Up next: South Carolina will wrap up its four-game roadtrip and midweek slate against Winthrop in Rock Hill on Tuesday night. First pitch is at 6 p.m. on ESPN Plus.
Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!
The post South Carolina completes comeback to earn series win over Missouri appeared first on On3.