The Sarge

BOTTOM 9 - Walker up to lead off the inning - and is hit by the first pitch of the at-bat. He takes second base. That throw by Snikeris was one of the worst I've seen. South Carolina needs to get some runners on and steal some bases these next two games. Dantzler pops up to Nola for the first out. Joey Pankake drops a single to center to score Walker. Connor Bright with a sharp single back up the middle. Kyle Martin will now pinch hit for Vergason, but he bounces to short on the first pitch for the final out of the game. FINAL: LSU 5 - Carolina 2. L: Roth (5-1) Joey Pankake drove in both Gamecock runs. Game 2 will start at 7 p.m.

TOP 9 - Hanover has had a rough game. He pops up for the first out of the inning. Katz hits a sharp ground ball down the third base line. Dantzler has the ball go off his glove on a diving attempt and into shallow left. Hit. Rhymes grounds to Dantzler at third base. He fires to Vergason, who can't quite get it out of his glove in time to get Rhymes going to first. That proves costly as Snikeris takes Sullivan deep onto the concourse in left field. Before Snikeris could round third, Meyers was halfway to the mound and he signaled in Logan Munson before the home run hitter ever touched the plate. Meyers is not a happy boy right now. Wow. Joey Pankake taking a little lesson from Nola. Goes deep in the hole and throws a dart across the diamond for the final out of the inning. LSU leads 5-1

BOTTOM 8 - 8, 9, 1 due up for the Gamecocks in this inning. Vergason grounds to short. You don't want to do that. Nola is a vacuum. Matthews pops out to Nola in shallow left. Marzilli shoots a single through the left side to give the Gamecocks its first runner in 12 hitters. Brison Celek in pinch hitting now for English. Ray hoping that Brison can run into one and tie it up. He's down in the count 1-2. Celek hits a spinner towards first. Katz slides and fields it on the grass and spins back to his feet all in one motion. Sprints to the bag and tags it for the final out of the inning. Another great defensive play. LSU leads 3-1. Patrick Sullivan in to pitch.

TOP 8 - Jones on base for the third time today with a single to right. He's bunted to second by Yocom. Fields, who has an RBI single today, digs in. Fields gets good wood on it, but lines out to right field. Jerry Meyers out to visit the mound as lead off hitter Austin Nola comes up. Roth goes ahead in the count 1-2 and just misses strike three on a fastball outside. Nolan ops out to Matthews deep down the right field line on the track to end the inning. LSU up 3-1.

BOTTOM 7 - Austin Nola makes another fairly difficult play look routine fielding and throwing out Greiner from deep behind the base. Pankake lines out to third base. Two quick ones. Bright falls behind 0-2 in the count but takes a pitch and fouls a couple off. He ends up going down on strikes to end the inning. LSU leads 3-1.

TOP 7 - Katz pops out to Greiner at the screen. One down. Rhymes grounds one through the right side. Kid just knows how to hit. Snikeris bounces to Dantzler. Another routine play there. Pankake makes a play back up the middle for the final out of the inning. He's looked pretty smooth out there today, actually. LSU leads 3-1.

BOTTOM 6 - English pops a bunt about 75 feet up in the air. Gausman eats a hamburger as he waits on that to come down in his glove for out number one. Fastball was at about shoulder level. Impossible to get that one down. One out. Nola makes almost the exact same play against Walker as he did earlier in the game fielding one in the hole and throwing. Dantzler pops out to the catcher in foul territory. Four pitch inning for Gausman. No scoring for the Gamecocks in the inning. LSU leads 3-1.

TOP 6 - Michael Roth back to the mound for the Gamecocks. No action in the bullpen, but it seems like everyone is out there. Hardly anyone in the dugout. I just saw Kyle Martin and Erik Payne jog down to the bullpen. Fields hits a rope towards left center, but Evan Marzilli is just incredible out there. Tracks it down. Two outs. Roth has just eclipsed the 100-pitch mark. Nola walks on Roth's 103rd pitch of the game. Hanover, however, pops out to second base to end the inning. LSU leads 3-1

BOTTOM 5 - Vergason hits a ground ball towards the six hole. Nola makes a very nice play over there for the first out of the inning. Moved on it well off the bat, backhanded, and got rid of it very quickly. Great, great play. That's what having a senior at short can do for you. Katz, with a home run in the last inning, just made another sterling defensive play. Matthews inside outed a fastball down the first base line. I didn't think Katz had a prayer, but he dives and gets a glove on it. Ball seemed to be past him, but he grabs it, gets up, and steps on the bag. Two down. Marzilli shows bunt and takes a strike, then fouls back a 93 mph fastball to go down in the count 0-2. He goes down on strikes for the final out of the inning. LSU still leads 3-1.

TOP 5 - Christian Walker makes a nice catch right in front of the USC dugout basket style to take away an at-bat from Hanover. One down. Katz, however, gets the run back on a solo home run by Katz. That's his 11th home run of the year. Good thing a lot of the clouds cleared out because that one could have brought rain. Rhymes bounces out Dantzler at third. Routine-type play there. Snikeris walks on six pitches. Roth and Tanner thought a 1-1 pitch should have gone in USC's favor. Not sure if they wanted the strike called or the attempted check swing called. Either way, neither happy. Edward hits a bouncer back up the middle. Vergason knocks it down but he doesn't have a play. Jones pops out to shallow left to end the inning. LSU leads 3-1

BOTTOM 4 - English goes down on strikes. Tried to check his swing on an inside slider, but goes around. Walker pops up some 96 mph heat to second base. Two down. Gausman has it working today in his final start of the regular season. Dantzler gets the fat part of the bat on something offspeed and dumps it into right field. Edward makes a diving attempt, but can't quite come up with it. Greiner up. He takes a vicious cut at an 0-1 fastball and fouls it off. Goes down 0-2, but comes back and works a seven pitch walk. Nice AB there by Greiner. Two on now for Pankake. He drops a two-strike single into left field to bring in a run. Bright bounces out to third to end the inning. LSU leads 2-1

TOP 4 - Roth gets Edward on strikes to begin the innning. Jones gets on base for the second time with a ground ball to the right side. Vergason made one hell of a play get glove that thing on a dive. It doesn't do much in this situation but had there been a runner on second, would have kept a run from scoring. Yocom tries to catch Dantzler by surprise dropping down a bunt. LB makes another great play fielding and throwing to get him. Great work. Fields up and he grounds a sharp 1-1 single back up the middle and into center. Nola grounds out to Dantzler at third to end the inning. LSU leads 2-0

BOTTOM 3 - Vergason hits a soft liner to short for out number one. Matthews with a pop out to center. Marzilli goes down looking on three pitches. Takes a fastball on the outside black, I guess, for the final out of the inning. Gausman -- all I've seen are fastball/slider. I've missed a few pitches, but he's only been a two-pitch guy so far. LSU leads 1-0.

TOP 3 - Two-hole hitter Hanover up now for LSU. Roth falls behind in the count 3-1, gets it back to full, and gets him to pop out to English in shallow left. Roth gets Katz on three pitches. Instead of throwing the 0-2 pitch three feet outside, he surprises him with an offspeed pitch on the inside corner and catches him looking. Two down. Rhymes up and singles through the right side. Just a little slap hit. That's what he does. Snikeris pops up to Dantzler behind the mound to end the inning. LSU leads 1-0.

BOTTOM 2 - Greiner leading off against Gausman. He's not intimidated and takes some very good swings on fastballs. After getting to two strikes, Gausman gets him on a slider. Greiner was very much confused on that pitch. Strikeout. Pankake flies out to center. Bright up now, the third freshman in a row in the order, and he falls behind 0-2. Bright pops out to shallow left. LSU leads 1-0.

TOP 2 - Jones hits a sharp bouncer back to the mound. Roth shows off his quick reflexes and first baseman skills to reach out and snare it. Throws to first for the out. Yocom lines a single to right, but he's picked off of first by Roth for the second out of the inning. Very next pitch he walks nine-hole hitter Arby Fields. Roth then catches Nola looking at a fastball to strand Fields on first. LSU leads 1-0.

BOTTOM 1 - Evan Marzilli works a lead off walk from Gausman, which is rare. Gausman entered with 21 walks in 91.2 IP this season. He's bunted up to second by English. Christian Walker digs in now. Scouting report on Gausman is a mid-90s fastball. Ray Tanner said that he understands that Gausman gets stronger as the game goes on. Walker pops out to Arby Jones, the centerfielder, who made the catch in left. Dantzler pops out to Nola at short for the final out of the inning. LSU leads 1-0.

TOP 1 - Shortstop Austin Nola, who seems like he's been around forever, hits a two-strike sharp single back up the middle to lead off the game. No chance anyone could get to that if not Roth. He's bunted up to second base by Hanover and moves up to third on a ground out to short. Pankake made a nice play on the chopper in front of the second base bag. Rhymes, who is hitting .476 this year, walks on six pitches. Pitch was close but just inside, I reckon. Snikeris, the backup catcher, is up now. He's started 15 games this year and played in 29. He goes ahead in the count 3-1 and turns on a slider, I believe, and knocks it through the left side. That plates a run. Edward bounces to Pankake at short. LSU up 1-0

I really, really like this lineup. I'm glad Tanner English is back up at the top of the order. I really think he can impact the game there, too, and not just at the bottom of the order. He has cut down on his strikeouts a little bit but he's also hitting for the second-highest average on the team. He can do everything you want out of a two-hole hitter. I think Evan Marzilli will flourish again in the lead off role. His slump pretty much coincided with the move to the second spot in the order. South Carolina may not score a run in this game because Gausman is that good, but I like this lineup, including Bright at DH, a lot.

South Carolina

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

LHP - Michael Roth

Louisiana State

SS - Austin Nola
3B - Tyler Hanover
1B - Mason Katz
LF - Raphy Rhymes
C - Jordy Snikeris
RF - Alex Edward
2B - JaCoby Jones
DH - Casey Yocom
CF - Arby Fields

RHP Kevin Gausman 2.95 ERA, 8-1, 91.2 IP, 81 H, 30 ER, 21 BB, 112 K

12:45 p.m. - It has drizzled off and on this morning, but right now, the drizzle is off. The tarp is still on the field at Carolina Stadium but the field looks to be in great condition. LSU is in the dugout right now. USC is back in the locker room. There won't be any BP on the field today, obviously. Supposedly the weather is supposed to be out of here, so we should get going at 2:30, as far as I know.

As was stated multiple times yesterday, there is no TV for the 2:30 p.m. game today. Tonight's game is still set to be on Cox Sports, which is not available outside of Louisiana and Arkansas. If you can find a stream to the Cox Sports broadcast and want to post it, that's fine. As per TBS policy, no links to pirated USC streams. If you want the USC stream, you need to sign up on Gamecocks Online. If not, follow us here or on Twitter or find the link somewhere besides this site.

To reiterate .... Thursday's game against LSU, which was scheduled to start at 7 p.m., has been postponed due to bad weather in the area. Game one of the series will be played on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Following that game, the stadium will be cleared of all the fans. Game two will start at the regularly scheduled time of 7 p.m. You will need tickets for both games if you plan to attend both games.

Thursday's game has been postponed. The first game of Friday's doubleheader is at 2:30 p.m., stadium cleared, and game two at 7 p.m.

The Eye Center, with Drs. Milne, Huff, and Clary, specialize in LASIK and Lifestyle Implant Lenses, but they’ll also fix any problem with your eyes to help you see better. No. 1 Gamecock baseball fan Bill “Oot Oot” Golding has nothing but great things to say! “I have never seen better out of my eye and cannot wait to have my other cataract removed. From top to bottom, from the clinic to the surgery staff, I have never been treated more kindly and professionally.” - Bill Golding ... Be sure to Like their page on Facebook or visit The Eye Center’s website and see how you can get rid of that astigmatism permanently with Lens Replacement Surgery.