South Carolina (23-17, 9-9) may be the most Jekyll and Hyde team in the state. Just days after losing to a Presbyterian team mired in the second division of Big South Conference, the Gamecocks wrapped up a three-game sweep of nationally ranked LSU with a come-from-behind 8-6 victory on Sunday at Founders Park.
USC had jumped on Bayou Bengals pitching for 11 runs in each of the first two games. For the first five innings of the series finale the Gamecocks' offense looked like the one shut out in both ends of a doubleheader at Arkansas eight days earlier and frustrated by PC on Tuesday.
Trailing 6-0, Carolina came to life by scoring four runs in the sixth. Justin Row's two-run homer tied the score in the seventh and L.T. Tolbert delivered the decisive two-run single in the eighth.
The excitement wasn't done. Eddy Demurias (4-0), who wound up pitching four shutout innings of relief, allowed a leadoff walk in the ninth. The next batter followed with a single into the right-field corner to put the potential tying run on base, but he tried to stretch a single into a double and was thrown out by Jacob Olson on a play that wasn't very close. Sawyer Bridges came in to get the final two outs.
T.J. Hopkins had three hits and Tolbert added two for the Gamecocks, who hit .355 for the weekend. It was Carolina's first-ever home sweep of LSU. USC swept series in Baton Rouge in 2005 and 2006. LSU fell to 2-11 away from Alex Box Stadium this season.
Elsewhere:
* Clemson (29-11, 14-7) wrapped up its first sweep at Wake Forest (18-23, 10-11) since 2005 with a 9-4 victory. Kyle Wilkie doubled and homered to drive in three runs. Grayson Byrd, Drew Wharton and Chris Williams also homered for the Tigers, who had 12 hits. Jake Higginbotham pitched five shutout innings to get the win.
* Coastal Carolina (28-14, 14-4) won its 10th consecutive Sun Belt Conference series, taking a 3-1 win over Georgia State (19-20, 6-11) behind five shutout inning from starter Zach McCambley. The Chanticleers were outhit 6-5.
* Wofford (28-13, 9-3) completed a SoCon series sweep of The Citadel (14-25, 3-9) when Max McDougald stole home for the deciding run of a 6-5 victory at Russell C. King Field. Coach Todd Interdonato's Terriers, who moved into second place in the league standings, held a 5-1 lead until Will Kinney's fifth-inning grand slam for the Bulldogs. McDougald and Alex Malsch combined for the double steal in the sixth for the margin of victory, McClain Bradley had two hits for Wofford, which meets first-place UNC Greensboro next weekend.
* Winthrop (22-20, 12-6) got solid pitching for the third straight day and finished up a sweep of UNC Asheville (10-29, 5-13) with a 4-3 victory. Daniel Willcutt pitched a six-hit complete game and Tyler Halstead delivered a three-run home run.
* Furman (19-21, 4-8) scored nine runs in the second inning and six in the third to cruise to a 19-1 win over VMI (21-18, 9-6) and avoid being swept in the Southern Conference series. The game was halted after seven innings because of the SoCon's run rule for getaway days. Bret Huebner had four hits, Logan Taplett had three and seven more players contributed two hits apiece to the 22-hit attack.
* Jose Bonilla had four hits and USC Aiken (29-16, 20-7) took advantage of five Lander (14-31, 7-20) errors for a 9-5 victory to complete a Peach Belt Conference series sweep. Conner Durden drove in two runs for the Pacers, who broke a 4-4 tie with five runs in the sixth. Carson Jones homered for the Bearcats.
* Cleveland Westbrook struck out 10 batters in eight innings as Claflin (15-25, 11-4) clinched a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series victory over Benedict (17-17, 7-9) with a 14-3 romp at Tiger Field. Harold Smith had a home run and three singles and Darrell Langston's two-run homer in the first -- he later added two singles -- gave the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish. The series is scheduled to conclude at 6 p.m. Monday at Spirit Communications Park in Columbia.
* Florence-Darlington Tech (40-11, 19-3) didn't have a letdown after clinching the NJCAA Region 10 regular-season title on Saturday. The Stingers completed a four-game sweep at USC Salkehatchie (24-27, 11-11), with wins of 3-0 and 3-1. The Stingers led 3-0 after the top of the second inning and three pitchers made that stand up. Cody Adams had three hits for Salkehatchie, which outhit Tech 9-5. Ryan Smith and two relievers combined for a three-hitter in the nightcap as Grayson Cottingham had two hits. Josh Price got the save in both games.
* Spartanburg Methodist (26-24, 11-9) grabbed third place in the final Region 10 standings with 6-5 victories over USC Sumter (30-10, 14-10) in both ends of a doubleheader. Kobe Phillips delivered a walk-off single in the seventh inning of the opener. Donald Hansis singled, doubled and drove in two runs. Eric McGirt, Leniel Gonzalez and Austin Price homered for the Fire Ants in Game 1. Hansis and Caleb Watkins homered for the Pioneers in the second game.
* College of Charleston (27-14, 9-6) suffered late heartbreak when Hofstra (17-15, 7-8) scored four runs in the ninth to walk off with a 5-4 victory and a Colonial Athletic Association series sweep. Luke Morgan had three hits and Bradley Dixon had two RBIs for the Cougars. The Pride's Rob Weissheier hit a three-run homer to end the game.
* Speaking of heartbreak, Presbyterian (13-29, 6-12) lost 6-5 at Gardner-Webb (24-18, 10-8) in Big South Conference play. It was the Blue Hose's third one-run loss of the weekend. Jonathan White and Colton Chapman homered for PC.
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