Tennessee Falls in Game Two vs. Gamecocks, 7-4

Saturday, April 9

Columbia, SC

4:00 PM

University of Tennessee

South Carolina

April 09, 2016 | Baseball

April 9, 2016

Box Score

COLUMBIA, S.C.-- Tennessee came back from an early deficit to tie the game against the No. 6-ranked Gamecocks, but South Carolina ultimately pulled away with a series-clinching 7-4 win on Saturday at Founders Park.

Offensively, the Volunteers tagged the Gamecocks with four runs on nine hits, led by veterans Chris Hall (1-for-3), Vincent Jackson (2-for-4, 2 RBI) and Derek Lance (2-for-4, RBI) for the second straight night.

Hall was hit by a pitch to provide Tennessee with a baserunner in the first. After stealing second, Hall came around to score on an RBI-single through the right side by Jackson.

South Carolina answered in the bottom of the frame, using a two-out rally to plate four runs and quickly moving ahead, 4-1.

The Vols fought back to score two runs in the second and trim the Gamecocks' lead to 4-3, where the score would hold until the fifth.

Tennessee's top of the order repeated their first-inning pattern in the fifth, as Hall reached on a base hit to left field and worked around to third. With two outs, Jackson singled to center and allowed Hall to score, tying the game at 4-4.

An RBI-groundout brought one run across for the Gamecocks in the sixth before a rundown situation at second base gave South Carolina's TJ Hopkins an opportunity to score from third, furthering USC's lead to 6-4.

South Carolina went on to load the bases in the eighth with two outs, scoring the final run of the game on a hit by pitch.

After a rough start against the Gamecocks, starter Zach Warren settled in to retire 16 of 24 batters after the first inning. In his eighth start of the season, the lefty went 7.0 innings and allowed six runs (two earned) on eight hits while striking out three batters.

Righthander Hunter Martin entered the game in the eighth and threw 0.2 inning before freshman Alex Harper-Cook came in to finish the frame.

Vol Baseball Quick Hits

With the loss, Tennessee moves to 18-13 (3-8 SEC) on the season and 36-57 in their all-time series against South Carolina (27-5, 9-2 SEC).
Entering Saturday's contest, Jordan Rodgers led the SEC and NCAA with 50 RBI on the season.
With two stolen bases against the Gamecocks, Brodie Leftridge became the seventh Vol to swipe two bags in a game this year (last, Santiago vs. UNC Asheville on 3/30/16).
Junior Nick Senzel has now reached base safely in 20 straight games, while extending his season-long hit streak to eight games.
Vincent Jackson has now tallied 11 multi-RBI games in 2016, tied for tops on the team with Jordan Rodgers.
Saturday's attendance at Founders Park: 8,242 (sellout)
Saturday's sellout crowd marked the third of the season for South Carolina and the 46th sellout in Founders Park history.
On Deck for the Volunteers: Senior Andy Cox (2-3, 7.07) gets the start in the series finale against the Gamecocks and righthander Adam Hill (5-0, 2.51), slated for a 1:30 p.m. ET start time on SEC Network+ stream from Founders Park.