The Sarge

TOP 9 - Price toes the rubber. Lots heading to the exits knowing what's about to happen. Nine-hole hitter Frost Ks to lead off the inning. Frazier singles to deep short. Pankake made a diving effort to keep it from going into left. Had no chance. Rafael Furcal wouldn't have had a chance. One on, one down. Norris hits a liner, but it's right at Vergason. Two down. Soft liner to Pankake at short ends the game. FINAL: Carolina 5 - MSU 3 W: Montgomery (3-0) S: Price (3) USC (26-10, 7-7) looks for the sweep on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

BOTTOM 8 - Vergason, English, Pankake due up. Vergy pops up lazily to center. One down. English hits a line drive single to left field I think I mentioned on Sunday I foresee another jump in his game. He's 3-for-4 today with a triple. Of course, he was 1-for-4 last night with 3Ks. Oops. Pankake pops out and Marzilli grounds out to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 5-3.

TOP 8 - Matt Price trots out of the bullpen to begin the inning. Leadoff infield single for Rea. Ground ball deep in the hole. Pankake ranges over there, plants, and fires across the diamond. Short-hops Walker, who can't pick it up out of the dirt. Ruled a hit. Not sure if the guy would have been safe or not. Renfroe strikes out swinging on three pitches and Slauter lines out to right to give Price two quick outs. Porter is hit on the foot with a curve ball. I bet that hurt, even though it was a breaking pitch. He's not scoring from first with a bum wheel. He's also a big ole boy. They've got a couple of big guys in the lineup. Fullerton pops a 3-1 pitch up in foul territory. Pankake tracks it down to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 5-3.

BOTTOM 7 - Walker bounces to third to begin the inning. One down for Dantzler. He walks on a 3-2 pitch. He's reached base three times in four ABs today. Greiner walks on five pitches. MSU bringing in a new pitcher, right-hander Jonathan Holder. He gets Matthews to pop up a 3-1 pitch behind second base for the second out of the inning. If the Gamecocks want something, it'll be up to Sean Sullivan, who falls behind in the count 1-2. Sullivan goes down on strikes. Ump said he couldn't hold his swing on a ball in the dirt. Tough call. Gamecocks lead 5-3.

TOP 7 - Evan Marzilli usually makes difficult catches look routine. He makes a difficult catch look difficult jumping for some reason on a ball he had pretty much settled under. Slauter has his fly ball caught for the first out of the inning. Given a ride though. Ball park can't hold Porter's fly ball to right. That's a solo home run and the last hitter that Montgomery will face today. Tyler Webb coming in to pitch. He gets touched up a little bit. First pitch he throws is a line drive single to left field then a ground rule double that hops over the wall in left center. Frazier flies out to left, which is good for a sac fly. Evan Beal comes to the dish and doesn't have his command. He wild pitches the runner home from second base on back to back WPs. He eventually walks Norris and that will end his day. Belcher coming in to pitch. Belcher comes in and finally gets the last out of the inning -- a bouncer back to him to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 5-3

BOTTOM 6 - Matthews begins the inning with a fly ball out to left field. Sullivan gives the Gamecocks a base runner with one down working a 3-1 walk. He's bunted up by Vergason to bring up English, who hits a deep fly ball to center. Very long run for Bradford, who gets there, but it hits off his glove and falls to the ground. It's ruled a triple, which is fine by me. That's his second triple of the season. All four runs have come with two outs. Make it five runs ... Pankake with an infield single to third base. Norris made a diving stop, but can't get up and throw. LHP Nick Routt, another guy who seems like he's been there for ages, coming in to pitch. Pankake is picked off but swipes second base under the tag. Marzilli lines out to center to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 5-0

TOP 6 - Montgomery works around a leadoff walk to get out of the inning facing the minimum. Gets a ground ball double play off the bat of Bradford and then Rea to fly out to center. Gamecocks lead 3-0.

BOTTOM 5 - Tanner English bounces a single back up the middle. Pankake up and, again, he fails to get a bunt down. Goes behind in the count 0-2. He hits a shallow fly ball to centerfield ... Bradford has a long run to make, but he lays out and makes a beautiful diving catch. It would have been a cheap hit, but Pankake was certainly robbed. One down. English moves up to second on a ground ball out by Marzilli. Walker serves a single to left field to bring home English standing up. Dantzler ropes a single to right to put two on with two outs. Again, more two-out magic. Greiner goes down swinging to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 3-0

TOP 5 - Three up, three down go the Bulldogs. Monty gets a pair of ground outs sandwiched around a fly ball to center to end the inning. Man, he's looked good. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

BOTTOM 4 - Adam Matthews hits a rope, but it's right at the third baseman. I thought he caught it, but Norris throws across the diamond. Sully goes down on strikes after failing to check his swing on a breaking ball in the dirt. Vergason goes down looking to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

TOP 4 - Rea strikes out swinging to begin the inning. Renfroe hits a bouncer back up the middle. It's ticketed for centerfield. Vergason makes a diving effort deep on the outfield grass and gloves it. He has absolutely no chance, but I will tell you right now, that's a great play in the eyes of Ray Tanner. Had there been a runner on second, that runner would have had to stop at third. That's a play that other second basemen on this roster have not made this year. Just getting a glove on it and keeping it on the infield was very good. Shows he can do it. Slauter sends a deep fly ball to left field. English makes a crashing catch against the wall for the second out of the inning. Dantzler gobbles up a grounder and throws to first for the final out of the inning to get Porter. Gamecocks lead 2-0.

BOTTOM 3 - Chase Vergason goes down swinging on three pitches. I like this Graveman guy. He works like South Carolina pitchers. He gets the ball and is ready to go. DOesn't dilly-dally much. John Cohen's teams are known for slowing the game down. English goes down looking at a fastball that he thought was off the plate. Little two-out rally from the Gamecocks. Pankake and Marzilli both single. Pankake books it for third and Marzilli takes second on the throw. Walker walks to load the bases. LB Dantzler comes up and delivers another clutch, two-RBI single back up the middle. Gamecocks go on top. Greiner pops out to first to end the inning. Gamecocks lead 2-0

TOP 3 - Frost flies out a couple of steps shy of the track in right field. The ball looked pretty good coming off the bat, but it died a little bit with the wind blowing out to left. Leadoff hitter Frazier goes down looking on an inside fastball that caught him by surprise. He started to walk to the dugout almost before Greiner caught it. Norris walks on a 3-2 pitch - a fastball that just missed. Gives the Bulldogs a base runner with two outs. Three-hole hitter Bradford hits a bouncer to Walker, who fields and steps on the bag. Routine. No score.

BOTTOM 2 - Grayson Greiner hits a bouncer towards the six-hole. Fielder gets there in plenty of time but short-hops his throw. Matthews tries to bunt him up, but it goes almost right back to the mound. Pitcher has time to get Greiner at second. No play on Matthews at first. One down. Matthews is thrown out trying to swipe second base. Bases are clear now with a 1-2 count on Sullivan. He grounds out to end the inning. No score through two.

TOP 2 - Two quick outs for Jordan Montgomery. Gets a pop up to Walker at first. Walker had the first base line strattled, then had to book it about five steps to his right to make the play. One down. Second out is a bouncer right back to Monty. Big boy Porter bounces one through the right side for a two-out single. Montgomery gets Brownlee looking at a two-seamer to end the inning. Ole Monty off to a good start. No score.

BOTTOM 1 - Pankake up for his second straight stint at the leadoff spot. He puts forth a nice 10-pitch at-bat, but goes down looking on a breaking ball on the outside half. May have been a changeup, actually. He was fooled. Marzilli is first-pitch swinging and flies to the track in left field for the second out. Walker is plunked on the first pitch and takes his base to bring up LB Dantzler. I picked him to have a big weekend this weekend ... Yesterday, he was 1-for-4 with two RBIs. That raised his batting average. He falls behind in the count 1-2 and then goes down swinging on a slider to end the inning. No score.

TOP 1 - Montgomery making his second straight SEC start. Loses his no-hitter on the first batter of the game. A flare was dropped to shallow center in between Vergason, Pankake, and Marzilli. Frazier advanced to second on a wild pitch and then to third on a ground out. Runner on third, one down. Bradford, who was the offensive star last night for MSU, pops out to the catcher in foul ground. Rea goes down looking on a fastball. Attaway to work out of a jam early, Gumby. No score.

I'm on my way over to Carolina Stadium now after wrapping up some stuff from Williams-Brice Stadium and the spring game. Stay tuned for updates!

South Carolina

SS - Joey Pankake
CF - Evan Marzilli
1B - Christian Walker
3B - LB Dantzler
C - Grayson Greiner
RF - Adam Matthews
DH - Sean Sullivan
2B - Chase Vergason
LF - Tanner English

LHP Jordan Montgomery

Mississippi State

SS - Adam Frazier
3B - Daryl Norris
CF - C.T. Bradford
1B - Wes Rea
LF - Unter Renfroe
C - Mitch Slauter
DH - Trey Porter
RF - Brent Brownlee
2B - Sam Frost

RHP Kendall Graveman 2.68 ERA, 2-1, 47.0, 46 H, 14 ER, 13 BB, 27 K, OBA .254

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