South Carolina baseball’s impressive offensive start to the season met an immovable object Friday night at Founders Park — Georgia’s pitching.
No. 22 USC tied a season-low with five hits against the No. 8 Bulldogs and dropped the opener of its first SEC series of the year, 6-1.
Freshman left-fielder Brady Allen was responsible for the only run the Gamecocks (14-4, 0-1 SEC) scored all day, crushing an opposite-field solo home run in the bottom of the third to the right-field bullpen.
Beyond that, South Carolina struggled to touch Georgia ace Emerson Hancock, whose fastball hit 98 miles per hour and off-speed stuff kept the Gamecocks off-balance.