South Carolina fell 16-4 at number 13 Texas A&M Friday night in its weekend series opener, but the Gamecocks achieved something that hadn’t happened for the program for a while, a triple play.
With runners on first and second and no outs in the bottom of the third, as the runners were off with the pitch, A&M’s Jack Moss lined to USC second baseman Braylen Wimmer, who flipped to shortstop Michael Braswell at second to cut down Kole Kaler, and Braswell fired a bullet to first baseman Kevin Madden to easily beat Dylan Rock back to the bag.
It was USC’s first triple play since April of 1999 against Georgia and it helped preserve a 2-1 South Carolina lead.
But the Aggies scored three runs in the fourth, four in the fifth, and two more in the sixth on their way to the rout. Moss hit one of the four home runs in the contest for the Aggies, who out-hit USC 12-10, and improve to 29-13, 13-9.
The Gamecocks took the early lead with single runs in the first and third innings. Josiah Sightler’s opening inning single to center plated Brandon Belk. Andrew Eyster’s grounder to third led to a throwing error that allowed Belk to score a second time and give USC its 2-1 lead in inning number three.
USC falls to 23-21, 9-13 and faces Texas A&M again Saturday at 2pm.
