South Carolina's hot streak halted by loss to Georgia

Carrying a six-game winning streak into Athens, Georgia, the South Carolina baseball team came up two runs short of extending their successful stretch to seven with a 5-3 loss at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs.

Gamecock starter Thomas Farr had one of his shortest outings of the year, leaving the game in the sixth inning and earning a no-decision with seven strikeouts and two earned runs allowed. The South Carolina bullpen did not fare much better as the Bulldogs scored their final three runs off of relievers Julian Bosnic and Andrew Peters.

Georgia took a whole-staff approach to the series opener, using eight pitchers in the game just three days after using the same strategy in a win over Clemson. Starter Luke Wagner went the furthest, pitching three scoreless innings to open the contest before walking the opening batter of the fourth inning and exiting.

Despite Georgia outhitting South Carolina ten to five, the Gamecocks actually led much of the game until a bloop single plated two runs for the Bulldogs in the seventh inning, giving them a lead that they never relinquished.

Offensively, South Carolina was unable to hit their stride. All three Gamecock runs came on a homerun by David Mendham in the fourth, and the top five hitters in the order accounted for just two base hits, neither of which came from Braylen Wimmer or Wes Clarke. Wimmer, the team leader in batting average, was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts while the national homerun leader, Clarke, only reached base on a hit-by-pitch and scored on the Mendham homer.

Georgia’s hitting attack was led by right fielder Connor Tate and second baseman Josh McAllister. Tate, whose twin brother Cole started at shortstop for the Bulldogs, opened the team’s scoring with a solo homerun in the fourth. McAllister recorded three hits, including two doubles, and reached base each time he came to the plate before leaving the game in the seventh inning with a leg injury.

The Gamecocks (17-7, 4-3 SEC) will once again face the Bulldogs (18-7, 3-4 SEC) tomorrow at 2 p.m. with Brannon Jordan and Ryan Webb, respectively, expected to take the mound.