The Sarge

TOP 9 - Evan Beal in to pitch for the Gamecocks. Gets a strike out and a fly ball to right field for the first two outs. Make that two Ks. Great work for Beal. He continues to produce. FINAL: Carolina 6 - Elon 0. W: Holmes (2-0) HR: Dantzler (2). Dantzler was 1-4 with 3 RBIs. English 1-3, 3B, BB, 2 RBIs.

BOTTOM 8 - Easy inning for Elon. Matthews pinch hits and Ks looking. Celek pinch hits and grounds to third. Pankake grounds to third, too. Still 6-0. Bealster coming in to pitch.

TOP 8 - Easy inning for Mr. Carter, who gets a K looking, line out to third, and pop out to center. Gamecocks still lead 6-0.

BOTTOM 7 - Marzilli hits a sharp shot to second, but the throw goes to the dugout. Marzilli to second, which is where he stays. English Ks, Walker grounds to third, Dantzler Ks. Still 6-0. Carter headed back out there.

TOP 7 - Ethan Carter now in to pitch. He gets a line out to left and a line out to center to start the inning. Pankake fields a grounder and throws to first for the final out of the inning. Gamecocks still up 6-0. Stretch time.

BOTTOM 6 - Two pitches, two outs. Pankake grounds to short. Costen to third. Bright lines out to left. Quick inning. Still 6-0.

TOP 6 - Holmes starts out quick and efficiently getting a strike out and a ground out to second. He walks Koster on six pitches after starting ahead in the count 0-2. Line drive single to left puts two on and brings out Jerry Meyers. He calls in Vince Fiori to make his collegiate debut. He gets a fly ball to right to end the little threat. Gamecocks still up 6-0.

BOTTOM 5 - Dantzler flies out to the track in right center. Greiner grounds back to the mound. Sullivan goes down swinging. Announced attendence is 7,304. Gamecocks still lead 6-0.

TOP 5 - Holmes starts the inning off well again getting a ground ball to Dantzler at third. Then strikes out Vicker on an 89 mph fastball. Make that a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. That's five strikeouts for Holmes. That's 74 pitches for Holmes.

BOTTOM 4 - Pankake, who has a mafia name of Tony Lottsaspaghetti according to some name generating website I found on Twitter, flies out to deep center for the first out. Costen shows his wheels by hitting an infield single to deep short. No shortstop in the country can make that play on him. If he hits that ground ball every time, the third baseman is going to have to cut it off for there to be an out. Bright up and a little 2-1 hit and run is called. Pitch is way outside, and Bright fouls it off. He hits a ground ball to third, which could have been a double play ball, but it's bobbled and everyone is safe. I bet Bright would have beaten the throw to first, but should have been at least one down. Marzilli rips the first pitch he sees to right. Costen had to freeze to be sure that the ball would get down. Even with that, coupled with a RF with a weak arm, he scores. Shows his wheels, though. English strikes out on what was the worst at-bat of his young career. Completely fooled on all three pitches. We'll give him a pass after the two-run triple in his last AB though. Walker goes down swinging on a pitch in the dirt. Gamecocks lead 6-0

TOP 4 - Holmes gets his first hitter of the inning to fly out to center but bounces a breaking ball and hits his second hitter of the inning. Luce pops up to Pankake at short. Tomko rolls one towards third. Dantzler makes a very nice running play and throw coming in. Gamecocks lead 5-0.

BOTTOM 3 - Easy inning for new pitcher - LHP Spencer Medick. LB Dantzler pops to right, Greiner watches a BP fastball go by on a 2-1 count, then grounds back to the pitcher on 2-2. Sullivan pops out to right. Gamecocks lead 5-0.

TOP 3 - Holmes gets a pair of strikeouts, then gives up a double and a walk to give Elon a couple of base runners. Three-hole hitter Alex Swim hits a line drive but Pankake takes a couple of steps to his left and snatches it out of the air for the final out of the inning. Gamecocks lead 5-0.

BOTTOM 2 - Pankake lines the first pitch, an outside fastball, to right field to open the inning. Costen pops up to second base and Bright walks. Two on, one out for the top of the order. Evan Marzilli hits a line drive on the screws, but it's right at third baseman Joey Tomko. Good job by both runners of freezing and getting back to the bag. Freshmen being heads up. Tanner English then lines a first pitch fastball to the gap in left center. He slides in for a triple without a throw. Don't see that too often on a shot to left field. He's fast ... Pankake and Bright both score. Walker up. He goes down looking at an inside breaking ball. Gamecocks lead 5-0

TOP 2 - Little tapper back to Holmes by Koster for out number one. Kinsella grounds a sharp shot back up the middle and into center for the first Elon hit of the game. He's bunted up by Luce. Tomko up with two down. Holmes gets Tomko on a steady diet of fastballs for the final out of the inning. Elon strands a runner at second. Gamecocks lead 3-0 with three freshies - Pankake, Costen, Bright - due up.

BOTTOM 1 - Evan Marzilli goes down on strikes. English walks and Walker hits an opposite field single with two strikes. Very, very nice work there by Walk. Runners at the corners for Dantzler, who hits what looked to be a sac fly to left center. The ball just kept carrying. Wind brings it just over the wall into the visitors bullpen to give the Gamecocks an early lead. Greiner grounds to third and Sullivan pops to left. Gamecocks lead 3-0

TOP 1 - Tanner English tracks down a line drive down the right field line for the first out of the inning. Holmes issues a one-out walk, but the runner is gunned down trying to steal second. He went on a high fastball, and he was going to be cut down by so much, he tried to turn and go back to first. Pankake chased him down to Walker for the tag. Two-bouncer to Bright for the final out of the inning. 4-3. No score.

Just a few lineup thoughts -- If Costen can hit, I think you might see a lot of this lineup with Matthews as the DH, if he hits. I'm not saying Matthews is being benched right now, but Costen is a guy they have to get on the field some. I think LF is where he will start long term at USC. That's been my feeling for a while. English is so much better in RF than he is in left. He's never really played left in his life -- always CF or RF.

South Carolina

CF - Evan Marzilli
RF - Tanner English
1B - Christian Walker
3B - LB Dantzler
C - Grayson Greiner
DH - Sean Sullivan
SS - Joey Pankake
LF - TJ Costen
2B - Connor Bright

RHP Colby Holmes

12:25 p.m. - No lineups yet, but I have a strong feeling we're going to see TJ Costen somewhere in the starting lineup. I don't know if it'll be at second, DH, or LF (with Tanner English in right) but he's been hitting too well to not get a little bit of time. I don't know that he's going to be an every day option at second base right now, but he's got to play. And he could get to that point eventually where he could be every day at second. I do think he can be an every day outfielder right now.

Other than that, the wind isn't as bad today as it has been the first two days. It's blowing a little bit out to left at the moment, but it seems to be a perfect February day for baseball. Lots of sun, not too cold, and just a little breeze.

It also wouldn't surprise me, even though Elon is throwing a righty, to see Sean Sullivan get the start at DH.