No. 3 Texas A&M drops Sunday finale as No. 22 South Carolina escapes
Game #32: No. 22 South Carolina 6, No. 3 Texas A&M 5
Records: Texas A&M (28-4, 8-4), South Carolina (22-10, 6-6)
WP: Chris Veach (2-1)
LP: Justin Lamkin (2-1)
Save: Garrett Gainey (5)
Box Score
It was a role reversal on Sunday.
After watching No. 3 Texas A&M strike early en route to claiming the first two games of the weekend series, No. 22 South Carolina stole that approach and salvaged the finale, 6-5, at Founders Park in Columbia.
Ethan Petry's two-run home run in the first inning staked the Gamecocks to a lead they never relinquished.
Behind an impressive four-inning start by lefty Matthew Becker, South Carolina assumed control by the time the bullpens got involved.
Becker allowed just one run on five hits while punching out eight Aggies.
Extra-base hits eluded the Aggies until the sixth as the early long balls of Petry and Kennedy Jones assured the momentum stood with the home nine.
A&M starter Justin Lamkin was pulled after 3.1 innings, and the Aggie southpaw finished with five runs against him as Weston Moss allowed a pair of inherited runners to score in the fourth as South Carolina took a 5-1 lead.
However, as they usually do, the Aggies refused to stay quietly offensively.
Already with two singles and an RBI in the contest, Hayden Schott's two-run blast in the sixth provided a spark that nearly grew into a full-fledged fire.
Schott finished 3-for-4 with a trio of runs driven in to bring his weekend RBI total to nine.
Surprisingly, the Gamecocks never delivered a knock-out blow.
With the bases loaded and nobody out in the seventh, Travis Chestnut tracked down a Dalton Reeves fly ball at the wall, turning a potential back-breaking extra-base hit into a less costly sacrifice fly.
Trailing 6-3 at that point, A&M continued to battle against left-handed reliever Garrett Gainey.
Jace LaViolette led off the eighth with his 14th home run. Singles by Braden Montgomery, Ted Burton and Ali Camarillo plated a proximity run.
Yet the comeback effort fell short, even after Brad Rudis worked out of a self-made bases-loaded spot in the eighth to keep the deficit at one.
In another hard-fought SEC battle, the Aggies fell a mistake or two shy of wrapping up a rare conference road sweep — something Jim Schlossnagle has likened to finding a polar bear roaming the streets of College Station.
Before Schott's sixth-inning big fly, Montgomery was back-picked at first by Reeves.
With the tying run 90 feet away in the eighth, Chestnut attempted to bunt for a base hit, but the ball bounced up and hit him after he left the batter's box for the final out.
The usually reliable Lamkin's second straight abbreviated start set an unfortunate tone as the A&M pitching staff walked eight.
Even needing a comeback attempt, Sunday seemed ripe for the taking.
Through their first 31 games, this club has usually taken such ballgames. The bet is they'll continue to do so moving forward, even with a series against top-10 Vanderbilt looming.
Yet, even after a 3-1 road swing and winning a third straight SEC series, do not expect many smiles when the Aggie plane lands at Easterwood tonight.
This club's expectations are far higher than simply "holding serve" away from home.
They would have much rather found a polar bear awaiting them on the tarmac after doing some spring cleaning in Columbia.
