Jackie Bradley Jr. reached base five times with four hits including a homer and a game-winning RBI single in the top of the seventh inning as South Carolina held on for an 8-7 victory over Georgia in game two of a doubleheader on Sunday at Foley Field.
Ray Tanner postgame (Via BigSpur)
Carolina sweeps the three-game series vs. the Bulldogs with the squad now 32-8 and 14-4 in SEC play while the loss drops Georgia to 12-28 and 3-15 in conference action. South Carolina has won all six SEC series this year and nine straight dating back to the 2009 season.
With the score deadlocked at 7-7, the Gamecocks made their move in the top of the seventh. Whit Merrifield reached with a leadoff walk and stole second base to set the stage for Bradley. On a 1-2 pitch, Bradley drilled a RBI single to center field that scored Merrifield and put the Gamecocks up a run.
The bottom of the seventh was not without dramatics though as Georgia loaded the bases with one out on a pair of hits and an intentional walk. Gamecock freshman reliever Ethan Carter battled though as he struck out Brett DeLoach with the bags full for a key second out in the inning. Carter then sealed the Gamecock victory coaxing pinch hitter Zach Taylor into a short fly out to left field to end the threat and secure a Carolina win.
Carter worked two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and is now 2-0 on the year. The freshman right-hander has not allowed a run in 14 of 15 relief appearances and owns a scoreless inning streak of 14 games. Georgia reliever Cooper Moseley suffered the loss after 0.2 innings of work allowing one run on one hit with one walk and one strikeout. He is now 0-2 for the season.
Fresh off the victory in game one of the doubleheader, Carolina wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in game two with four runs in the first inning off of Georgia starter Michael Palazzone. The Gamecocks started off with three consecutive hits by Whit Merrifield, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Christian Walker with Walker’s driving in Merrifield for the first run of the game. With runners on the corners, Jeffery Jones lifted a deep sacrifice fly to the warning track in left field scoring Bradley. Morales, who was 2-for-2 with two runs in the first game of the DH, kept his hot day at the plate going as he drilled a 0-2 pitch from Palazzone over the left center wall for a home run, his second of the day and his fourth of the season increasing the advantage to 4-0. That lead increased to 5-0 in the second inning as the Gamecocks knocked Palazzone from the game in the process.
Bradley and Walker each tallied their second hits of the game and Jones was hit by pitch to load the bases. Morales would drive in Bradley on a sacrifice fly to center field. Georgia answered Carolina with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the second. Robert Shipman drew a one-out walk and scored from first base on a double to the gap in left center by Brett DeLoach. The Bulldogs then got their second run as Chase Davidson drilled a line shot up the middle off the chest of Jay Brown that deflected into right field scoring DeLoach from second base. The Bulldogs crept to within 5-4 in the bottom of the third inning as Zach Cone tallied a RBI base hit that was followed by a RBI double off the bat of Kyle Farmer.
South Carolina extended the lead back to three runs in the top of the fourth with Jackie Bradley Jr. connecting with a solo homer to lead off the frame. Bradley ripped a 1-1 pitch to left center for his third homer of the year, his first round tripper since March 30 vs. The Citadel. Evan Marzilli also tallied a key two-out RBI single that plated home Christian Walker, who had doubled earlier in the inning.
The Bulldogs tied it in the fifth inning on a three-run two-out homer off the bat of Brett DeLoach. Levi Hyams started the frame with a leadoff walk and Kyle Farmer was hit by pitch with one out to give Georgia a pair of runners. With two outs and runners on second and third base, DeLoach drilled a 3-2 pitch from Gamecock reliever Matt Price over the wall in center field to tie the game at 7-7. South Carolina finished with 11 hits to Georgia’s 10 in game two of the doubleheader. Bradley had a season-high in hits with a 4-for-4 day at the plate.
Christian Walker also went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Evan Marzilli started in left field and was 2-for-3 as well. Adrian Morales drove in three runs in game two of the doubleheader and finished with five in the doubleheader. DeLoach went 2-for-4 with four RBI to lead Georgia. Peter Verdin, Levi Hyams and Zach Cone also tallied two hits apiece for Georgia.
