COLUMBIA, S.C. – Third-ranked South Carolina shut down top-ranked Vanderbilt to win the series opener 3-1 Friday night at Carolina Stadium.
Gamecocks’ starter Michael Roth baffled the Commodores’ lineup over 7.2 innings allowing one run on three hits with eight strikeouts to earn his eighth win of the year. Closer Matt Price recorded the final four outs striking out all four batters he faced. Roth did not allow a runner to reach third base until the eighth inning when Bryan Johns tripled to left-center field.
South Carolina scratched out a run in the third inning to take an early lead and added single runs in the fourth and seventh off Vandy starter Sonny Gray, who was pinned with his second loss of the year. The right-hander allowed all three runs on a career-high 11 hits across 7.2 innings. Peter Mooney’s solo home run in the seventh capped a big night for the Gamecocks’ offense. Scott Wingo, Adam Matthews and Evan Marzilli all had two hits to lead South Carolina.
Vanderbilt collected just three hits on the night to set a season-low getting a single from Curt Casali, double from Jason Esposito and Johns’ triple. Tony Kemp drove in the lone VU run with a sacrifice fly. The 12 strikeouts the Dores registered also set a season-high. The loss snaps Vanderbilt’s school record eight-game SEC winning streak and 11-game overall winning streak. Anthony Gomez went 0-for-4 with a career-high two strikeouts to snap his 29-game hitting streak. Esposito extended his hitting streak to 16 games with his seventh inning double.
The Commodores and Gamecocks play tomorrow night with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. CT on CSS. Vanderbilt sends lefty Grayson Garvin to the mound to face South Carolina’s right-hander Colby Holmes.
