Nashville, Tenn. — No. 3 Vanderbilt struggled offensively Friday night in a 4-0 loss to No. 5 South Carolina at a sold out Hawkins Field.
The Commodores (22-5, 5-3) were held to a season-low two hits in the loss and never threatened the Gamecocks (24-4, 7-1), putting only two runners in scoring position on the night. South Carolina starter Braden Webb carried a no hitter into the sixth inning before Tyler Campbell broke up the bid with a two-out double to left field. The Commodores put the leadoff man on in the eighth inning with Will Toffey working a walk but Webb responded with a pair of strikeouts and a pop up to snuff out the potential threat and end his night with eight scoreless innings.
Vanderbilt starter Kyle Wright was the tough-luck loser giving up two runs on six hits over a career-best 7.1 innings. The sophomore worked out of a two on, one-out jam in the second inning thanks to a pair of strikeouts but the Gamecocks reached him for a pair of runs in the third when back-to-back singles were followed by a hit batter to load the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly from John Jones pushed the first run across and a RBI-single up the middle from Alex Destino made it a 2-0 game. Wright took care of the jam himself from there, punching out two more to end the inning. Those two strikeouts started a string of 12 straight retired for Wright until a one-out walk in the seventh snapped the streak. He pitched into the eighth before leaving with two on and one out.
Webb earned the win eight innings, striking out 11 and walking three. Gene Cone led the South Carolina offense with two hits and two runs.
The Commodores and Gamecocks decide the series tomorrow at 2 p.m. on SEC Network. Hayden Stone gets the ball for the home team against South Carolina freshman Adam Hill.
