The Sarge

BOTTOM 9 - Price gets them in order and the Gamecocks are SEC Champs. Strikes out the final hitter of the game to end it. FINAL: Carolina 3 - Alabama 2. WP: Holmes (6-2) S: Price (15). The Gamecocks (44-12, 22-8) are SEC Champions and No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament.

TOP 9 - Peter Mooney leads off the inning with a single off Jonathan Smart, the starter who is still in the game right now. Wingo drops a pretty good bunt but the third baseman was bearing down right on the plate. The throw is a bit high and wide of the bag to second but blue rules that Reaves was on it and calls Mooney out. No arguments but was a real close play from my view. Wingo on first, one out. RHP Tucker Hawley from South Aiken HS in the game. He gets Walker to fly out to right but then balks Wingo over to second base. Hawley balks Wingo to second but Williams lines out to right to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 3-2 going to the ninth. Price back out there.

BOTTOM 8 - John Taylor back out there to start the inning. He walks the leadoff hitter of the inning. After getting a looking strikeout, Booth lines a double down the RF line. That puts the tying runs in scoring position for Andrew Miller. Tide have a pair of lefties due up and Meyers comes out to call in Tyler Webb. Webby gets a ground ball to short. Mooney's throw is high and wide. Walker has to come off the bag. Makes a great play and swipe tag to get the second out of the inning. He isn't the best with ground balls but he's very athletic over there. Great play. A run does score and the runner at second does move to third. Alabama brings in a right-handed pinch hitter and Matt Price is called upon to get the final out of the inning. Price hits Hendricks with the second pitch of his appearance. LHH Jon Kelton now digs in. Price goes from 0-2 to full. After a foul ball, he gets Kelton swinging to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 3-2 with the top of the order due up.

TOP 8 - Christian Walker leads off with a double just inside the third base bag. Williams bunts towards third. It's bobbled by Booth and Williams is safe. Runners at the corners with no one out. Adrian Morales lines a single to left field on the first pitch and brings home a run. Bama calls a silly bunt defense in which the third baseman hangs by the bag no matter what. Marzilli pushes a good one and the pitcher has no play at any base. Bunt hit, bases loaded, no outs. Beary lines out to right but not deep enough to risk sending Williams. Neff up and he's being talked to by Tanner. Neff goes down looking on a pretty nasty breaking ball. He's given up some hits but Smart has done a good job out there today. Anderson pops out to right to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 3-1.

BOTTOM 7 - Holmes gives up a sharp single to left to start the inning. Miller bunts him to second bringing up Gregory and Sanders, the eight and nine hitters in the order. One down. Holmes walks Gregory on four pitches. Pinch hitter Josh Rosecrans behind in the count 1-2. Make it full. The 1-2 pitch just missed. 2-2 pitch was certainly a ball. Rosencrans then goes down looking on a pitch he apparently thought was outside. Two down. Big pitch there by Holmes. Meyers coming out to talk to Holmes with Dugas coming to the plate. Jerry Meyers visits. Big, big spot here for Holmes, who finds himself down 2-0 in the count. Make it 3-0. Make it a four-pitch walk. Bases loaded for Bennett. Probably not a bad thing. John Taylor coming in to face Brock Bennett. Well, Taylor falls behind in the count 3-0 and then walks him on five pitches. Taylor then gets a ground ball to third. Morales fields and runs to the bag for a force out. Gamecocks lead 2-1.

TOP 7 - Anderson pops out behind first, Mooney lines out to left. Two quick outs for Jonathan Smart, who has really pitched pretty well. Scott Wingo grounds out to first to end the inning. It's still 2-0.

BOTTOM 6- Top of the order due up. Dugas and Bennett both begin the inning on base with a walk and a single. Reaves is unable to get a bunt down and then drops a soft shot to center. Marzilli still playing really deep. He charges in and his dive is just short. Fortunately, Wingo is playing heads up baseball. He picks it up and fires to third to just get Dugas. Great, underrated, heady play. I can't even think about not having that kid on this team next year. Runners move up on a wild pitch but Holmes gets the next hitter swinging on strikes. Ground ball to first ends the inning. That was the first time Holmes has had to pitch out of trouble. Gamecocks still lead 2-0.

TOP 6 - Morales grounds out to start off the inning. Evan Marzilli is now 3-for-3 in the game after knocking his second double, this one just under the scoreboard in left center. Beary flies out to center and Neff fouls out to third though. That's a pair of one-out doubles by Evan Marzilli that have been wasted. Gamecocks still lead 2-0.

BOTTOM 5 - Holmes gets a ground ball back to him to begin the bottom of the fifth. Scissors. One down. Ground ball to short and a strikeout makes easy work of the inning. That was 7-8-9 in the order for the Crimson Tide. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

TOP 5 - DeSean Anderson grounds out to second. One down. Mooney flies out to right. That is about the first time all weekend he hasn't hit the ball on the screws. He's really playing well right now. Third baseman has been playing back on Wingo all weekend, which makes zero sense. He drops another bunt single. Walker takes his base on pitches to put two on with two down for Williams. He flies out to end the inning. Gamecocks still lead 2-0.

BOTTOM 4 - Holmes gets a noisy first out. Fly ball to the wall in left by Reaves. Caught by Neff. No matter how noisy, still an out. Smith lines a single to left center. USC's OF are play a little deep it seems to me, given how the ball doesn't fly too well. Marzilli has a long run to get to a fly ball in left center that wasn't all that deep. He just gets there. Two down. Final out is a fly ball to right by Booth. After 4 innings, Carolina 2 - Alabama 0. Christian Walker has a sac fly and Steven Neff a solo home run. Holmes has allowed 2 hits, 2 Ks in 4IP.

TOP 4 - Morales flies out to right field for the first out of the inning. Marzilli hooks a double into the right field corner to give his team a runner in scoring position with one out. Beary hits his second ground ball of the day to short and is thrown out at first base. Zilli has to hold bringing up Neff with two down.

BOTTOM 3 - Bama sends 8-9-1 to the plate. Gregory goes down looking at an 0-2 pitch. Sanders grounds up the middle. Mooney has to field it moving to his left and throws across his body. A bit low but Walker with a nice pick. Two down. Holmes issues a full count walk to Dugas. Doesn't bother him though. Bennett pops out to right to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

TOP 3 - Mooney lines a shot but it's right at the first baseman for the first out of the inning. One pitch, one out. Wingo up and he lines another single to right. He's been on five of his last six plate appearances, all with singles. Wingo takes second on a pitch in the dirt. Walker pops up a 2-1 curve ball in foul territory caught by the third baseman for the second out of the inning. I guarantee that's a swing he wants back. Williams hits a sharp ground ball up the middle but Reaves has him played nicely. Makes a nice play and throw to first to end the inning. Gamecocks still lead 2-0.

BOTTOM 2 - Holmes begins the inning getting a ground ball to Walker at first. Booth up and down in the count 0-2. He goes down swinging on a 1-2 pitch for the second out of the inning. Miller grounds to first. Walker boots it but regains control and flips to Holmes in time for the final out of the inning. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

TOP 2 - First two innings, two leadoff hitters on. Marzilli lines a single to right on the very first pitch of the inning. He's cut down quickly though as Beary grounds a 2-1 pitch to short. Easy double play. Bases cleared for Neff. I just turned to my fellow scribe here in Tuscaloosa and said, "I bet Neff gets one today." Very first pitch he sees, he's drives it over the wall in right center. He really has been incredible lately. I've promoted him as a hitter since Fall 2009. I really need to thank him for making me look smart. Anderson grounds out to first to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

BOTTOM 1 - Taylor Dugas begins the game with a line drive single to right field. Bennett hasn't had the best of weekends for the Tide. He flies out to shallow left. Neff makes a nice running catch for the first out. Colby Holmes falls behind in the count 3-1 to Reaves. He dribbles one towards short. Morales makes a nice play coming in to cut it off and throw across the diamond. Good baseball there from the third baseman. Dugas makes it to second with two down. Smith sends a high fly ball to deep right. The wind has picked up coming in and that's a good thing as Williams catches it at the wall. Gamecocks lead 1-0.

TOP 1 - Peter Mooney leads off lining the first pitch of the game to centerfield. Nice little start off the soft-tossing lefty that Bama has on the mound. Wingo fails to get a bunt down on the first two pitches of his at-bat but then dribbles a well-placed single on an 0-2 pitch through the right side putting runners at the corners with no one out. Christian Walker then gives his team the lead on a sac fly to right field. The ball actually carried pretty well out there on that hit. Ball my jump a little better today than it has been. We'll see. Wingo on first, one down with Williams up. Hit and run with a 2-1 count. Williams has to reach for an outside pitch and grounds out to first. Wingo goes to second though. Two down. Morales behind in the count 1-2 but fights off a few pitches and works it to 2-2. He pops up on the infield to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 1-0.

South Carolina
SS Peter Mooney
2B Scott Wingo
1B Christian Walker
RF Jake Williams
3B Adrian Morales
CF Evan Marzilli
C Robert Beary
LF Steven Neff
DH DeSean Anderson
RHP Colby Holmes

Alabama
CF Taylor Dugas
C Brock Bennett
SS Jared Reaves
1B Austen Smith
DH Brett Whitaker
3B Brett Booth
RF Andrew Miller
LF Hunter Gregory
2B Josh Sanders
LHP Jonathan Smart

Pictures of tornado damage. Sobering, to say the least. http://thebigspur.smugmug.com/Other/Tuscaloosa-Tornado-Damage-May/17158967_7GtKtF#1300573644_xjPVQVX

Hot day out here today. Sunny and not a cloud in the sky. There's a little bit of a breeze blowing straight in. The Gamecocks are currently taking batting practice out here right now. Adam Matthews was out there running some bases. He put on Twitter last night that he finished the top of the ninth in the on deck circle. I didn't notice it but that's a good sign for the Gamecocks if that is indeed the case. He's been taking batting practice and looks fine for that. Hamstring will affect hitting very little.

Anyway, stay tuned for lineups.

Reminder: Game is on CSS today. I twas picked up by Time Warner in Columbia channel 506.