SEC Tournament: South Carolina withstands late Arkansas rally for upset win

South Carolina limped to the finish line of the 2024 regular season, but the Gamecocks appear to be getting their mojo back in Hoover. No. 10-seed USC is now 2-0 in the SEC Tournament, picking up another upset win. South Carolina took down 2-seed Arkansas on Wednesday, improving its overall record to 35-21 with the No. 18 RPI.

The Gamecocks did not wait long to break the scoring ice, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning.

Arkansas evened things up with a run in the bottom of the 2nd. The tie did not last along, as South Carolina went back ahead with a run in the top of the 3rd.

The back-and-forth scoring continued when Arkansas tied it up 2-2 in the bottom of the 4th inning. South Carolina had the first multi-run inning when it added 2 runs in the top of the 5th inning.

The Razorbacks did not have an immediate answer, but tied things at 4-all by scoring 2 in the bottom of the 7th inning. After a scoreless 8th inning, it remained 4-4 heading into the 9th.

Cole Messina broke the tie in a big way, with a towering 2-run shot to center field, giving South Carolina a 6-4 advantage.

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The lead put Garrett Gainey in position to get the win. He remained on the mound to toss his third inning of relief. The Hogs weren’t about to go quietly.

Three consecutive 1-out singles cut it to 6-5 with the tying run and winning run on base. The Gamecocks tried to turn a double play on the next ball in play, but it was confirmed to be a fielder’s choice, putting runners at the corners with 2 outs.

Gainey was able to get a flyout to center field to end the ball game 6-5. The southpaw finished with a line of 3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 K over 54 pitches (32 strikes).

South Carolina will next play 11-seed LSU in the winner’s bracket game on Thursday. The Gamecocks reached the second round by taking down 7-seed Alabama 10-5 on Tuesday.

As the 2-seed, Arkansas had a first-round bye. The Razorbacks will face 3-seed Kentucky in an elimination game Thursday morning.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.