The Kentucky Wildcats took care of South Carolina 7-2 in game five of the 2017 SEC Baseball Tournament.
The Gamecocks move to the loser’s bracket where they will play the loser of LSU and Missouri, while Kentucky will play the winner.
South Carolina came out hot after a thrilling extra inning win on Tuesday. They scored two in the third inning to take the early lead. But Kentucky answered right back with two of their own in bottom half of the inning. Luke Becker came up with the 2-RBI single to tie the game up.
That would be all for South Carolina as Zach Logue and Chris Machamer combined to throw three scoreless innings apiece the rest of the way. They allowed just 3 hits and didn’t issue a walk over the last six frames, while striking out a combined five batters.
Tristan Pompey, Kole Cottom and Connor Heady all had multi-hit games for Kentucky in this one.
The Wildcats took the lead in the fourth with a solo home run from Cottam. Evan White broke it open with a 2-RBI single in the sixth. He would finish the game with a total of 4 RBI.
South Carolina actually out-hit the Wildcats eight to seven, but Kentucky was able to come up with the big hits.
The Gamecocks simply wore down late in this game, especially on the pitching side of things.
You can’t relax against this Kentucky lineup as they can hit 1-9 in the batting order. They are one of the most impressive offensive teams in the country. They can score on you in so many different ways.
NCAA Tournament Picture: South Carolina really needs at least one more win to have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament in my opinion. If Missouri losses to Florida later today, then they have a really good chance of picking up another win in the SEC Tournament.
As for Kentucky, they’re looking really good for a regional host after this win. They had three pitchers throw three innings in this game, so they’re set up well to make a long run in the SEC Tournament. They’d have to win it all to become a top eight seed.
