Gamecocks' Sixth Inning Rally Leads To Game 2 Win Over Tennessee

South Carolina's Baseball team, with their backs against the wall, finally found a way to win a game late, forcing a rubber match with the Tennessee Volunteers.

Mark Kingston and the Gamecocks left game one on Friday night looking lifeless in Founders Park, as they scrounged up just three hits in nine innings, Tennessee dinged up South Carolina's game one starter Eli Jones the second time through the lineup and brought five runners home to secure the victory. On Saturday afternoon in game one of a doubleheader, it was the Gamecocks turn to break the hearts of their opponent.

The game started out as a quintessential pitchers dual, with Gamecock starter Jack Mahoney and Tennessee starter Chase Dollander both making it to the sixth inning, giving up one run each, five hits total and striking out 22 batters combined. Dollander in particular, gave South Carolina's hitting lineup fits with how he threw his fastball from different arm slots, with some rising as they approached the plate and others taking a more conventional flat-line path to the catcher's glove. 

Things would change, however, in the bottom of the sixth innning, as Tennessee coach Tony Vitello would make a questionable call by pulling Dollander with one out after the Gamecock's DH Braylen Wimmer reached on a single. Chase Burns would come on in relief and would subsequently get burned by South Carolina, who strung together five straight hits and scored five runs before Burns would be yanked for another Volunteer reliever.

South Carolina would then bring out right-hander Nick Proctor who went on to strike out the side in the seventh inning and give the Gamecocks' their biggest conference win in terms of run differential since game one of the Florida series back on April 20th. Game three is set to begin at 5:00 PM EDT on the SEC Network.

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