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Gamecocks' Late Game Heroics Stifle Luke Mann And The Missouri Tigers

South Carolina's Baseball team stole victory from the jaws of defeat on Friday night, after stringing together the timeliest of hits in the ninth inning.
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Mark Kingston and the South Carolina Gamecocks found themselves in a dire situation late on Friday night, as the home team went into the bottom of the ninth inning down three runs. A multitude of factors played into the Gamecocks carrying this deficit with three outs remaining in their first of three games against the Missouri Tigers.

South Carolina would get the fireworks started, as three different players would reach base thanks to a hit-by-pitch and two walks before second baseman Will McGillis would step up to the plate and, breaking an old unwritten rule of baseball, swing on the first pitch he got, hitting it into the concourse in left centerfield for a grand slam.

On the mound, after a solid first two innings under his belt, South Carolina's Friday night starter Will Sanders struggled to locate his pitches, as he would walk Tiger shortstop before giving up a two-run blast to third baseman Luke Mann. That sequence was followed by three more walks, loading up the bases before Will would strike out Dylan Leach and get out of a self-inflicted jam.

Things would only get worse for Sanders the following inning, as he would walk another Missouri Tiger and hit another before giving up another homerun to Luke Mann, effectively ending his night. Despite a valiant effort from the Gamecocks' bullpen, the Tigers would scrounge together three more runs, heading into the bottom of the ninth inning with a three-run advantage.

With three outs remaining, the Gamecocks would put together their best at-bats of the evening, kickstarted with Gavin Casas drawing a walk. Then after a Cole Messina groundout, Ethan Petry would strike out swinging, but the Missouri catcher Dylan Leach would let the ball get to the backstop and allow both Casas to advance to third base and Petry to reach first base. Talmadge LeCroy would then get grazed on the elbow pad, loading up the bases for Caleb Denny, who would hit a bloop single to right center scoring two Gamecock runs.

Catcher Jonathan French would then pitch-hit for Dylan Brewer and squeeze a single to right center scoring LeCroy. Then, the hero of last week's first game against the Georgia Bulldogs, Michael Braswell, would come through for an infield single, forcing a challenging play for Colon and scoring Caleb Denny, completing the insurmountable four-run comeback to take game one.

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