GAMECOCKS GIVE UP 6-0 LEAD AGAINST ECU, FINISH SEASON 40-23

I can’t count the number of times I have had to write this, but the University of South Carolina season has come to a disappointing end.

After an incredibly promising start to the Greenville Baseball Regionals in which they won the first two games before dropping a match Sunday against East Carolina, the Gamecocks looked poised to move on to the Super Regionals Monday night.

South Carolina took a commanding 6-0 lead early in the double-elimination game against East Carolina only to see everything fall apart.

East Carolina cut the lead to 7-6 in the seventh inning before giving up two runs to the Gamecocks in the eighth.

But the 9-6 lead didn’t hold. The Pirates’ Devin Harris hit a three-run homer in the ninth to tie the game, and then an RBI single in the tenth to win it.

“They have outstanding talent, and they came through in a big way tonight,” USC coach Ray Tanner told The State. “They have a great club, and it wasn’t just this weekend. They’ve been doing it all year. It’s tough to get 27 outs.”

The Gamecocks finished the year 40-23.

Clemson, meanwhile, was able to win Monday and advance to the Super Regionals, with Coastal Carolina bowing out in the Regionals.

Photo: The State