COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Vanderbilt baseball team fell to South Carolina, 8-2, on Friday evening at Founders Park. The loss marks the end of an 18-game win streak for the Commodores, which ranked as the second-longest in program history.
Vanderbilt fell to an early deficit, as South Carolina scored seven runs across the first two frames. The Commodores rallied for a pair of runs across the middle innings, but were unable to come any closer as the Gamecocks held on for the win to even the series.
South Carolina plated three runs in the first. The frame began with a leadoff double followed by a single to place runners on the corners with nobody out. One batter later, an RBI single to left center brought across the game’s first run to place the Gamecocks in the scoreboard. South Carolina scratched across two more runs on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 3-0 after one inning of action.
The Gamecocks returned to the dish to add four in the second and increase their lead. A leadoff single followed by an RBI double to right center crossed the first run of the inning. After a hit-by-pitch placed two runners on, before a three-run homer to right field made it a 7-0 game after two full.
Vanderbilt broke into the scoring column with single tallies in both the fourth and fifth innings. Davis Diaz led off the fourth with a double to right center before Dominic Keegan reached on a one-out walk. One batter later, Jack Bulger lined a single through the left side to score Diaz and make it a 7-1 contest.
With one down in the fifth, Parker Noland and Enrique Bradfield Jr. reached on back-to-back singles, resulting in runners on second and third. In the next at-bat, Diaz lined a sacrifice fly to center field, allowing Noland to cross and trim the deficit to 7-2.
South Carolina added to its lead in the sixth, as a wild pitch with the bases loaded scored one to set the score at 8-2, the eventual final.
The Vanderbilt offense was led by the duo of Bradfield and Noland, who tied for the team-lead with three hits apiece.
Freshman southpaw Carter Holton (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season. Holton allowed seven earned runs on seven hits, while striking out two.
Sophomore Patrick Reilly worked a season-high 5.2 innings out of the bullpen. Reilly surrendered one earned run on four hits, while picking up a career-high 14 strikeouts.
The two teams will return to the diamond tomorrow afternoon for the series finale. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. CT, with action airing live on SEC Network+.
