Carlos Cortes homered on the first pitch of the ninth inning and South Carolina (30-21, 15-12) clinched a .500 record in SEC play with a 1-0 victory over Missouri (31-20, 10-17) Sunday at Founders Park in Columbia.
Mizzou starter Tyler LaPlante had baffled the Gamecocks on four hits over the first eight innings, but Cortes' 14th homer of the season spoiled the lefty-lefty matchup strategy and broke up the double shutout.
Cody Morris struck out 10 in his seven-inning start for USC. The only Tigers player to get beyond second base was thrown out trying to score on a single to Cortes in right field to end the first inning.
Eddy Demurias (5-0) pitched the final two innings for USC. After a Tuesday home game with USC Upstate, the Gamecocks complete the regular season by trying to enhance its NCAA chances in a series at Texas A&M.
Elsewhere:
* Coastal Carolina (36-13, 21-6) nabbed the top overall seed for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with its 1-0 win over Little Rock (26-23, 14-12) to complete a series sweep. Parker Chavers scored from second base on Cory Wood's infield single in the seventh inning for the game's only run. Zach McCambley, Matt Eardensohn, Anthony Veneziano and Jay Causey combined on the four-hit shutout, although they issued seven walks. Little Rock drew two walks in the ninth before Causey got the final two outs. Wood and Kevin Woodall Jr. had two hits apiece for the Chanticleers.
* McClain Bradley singled, walked, homered twice and drove in five runs and Wofford (33-20, 13-8) overcame a seven-run deficit to beat VMI (25-23, 11-10) in 11 innings, 12-10, to take the deciding game of the Southern Conference series. The Terriers trailed 8-1 after two innings before beginning their comeback. Wofford took a 10-9 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Keydets got back-to-back two-out hits to tie the score. Wofford got a single, four walks and a wild pitch in the 11th to get its two runs.
* Grayson Byrd led off the 11th inning with a home run and Clemson (39-13) won the deciding game of the series with Austin Peay (30-22) by a 3-2 score at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. It was the Tigers'' second walk-off homer of the week. The Governors scored twice in the sixth on a pair of bases-loaded walks, but the Tigers tied the score in the bottom of the inning. Clemson had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, but AP third baseman Garrett Kueber made a superb stab of a grounder and threw home in time to get Kyle Wilkie. The call was upheld by video review. The Tigers were held to six hits, two of them by Byrd.
* Furman (24-26, 9-12) kept its chances for a winning season overall and a. 500 record in the Southern Conference alive with a 9-4 victory at East Tennessee State (26-21, 10-11) in the rubber game of their series. The Paladin staked freshman John Michael Bertrand to a 5-0 lead before the Buccaneers began their comeback. With the score 5-4, the Paladins scored four runs on six hits in the eighth inning. Freshman Ben Anderson had two hits, including his school-record seventh triple of the season, and drove in three runs. Jake Crawford, Bret Huebner and Logan Taplett also chipped in two hits for the Paladins.
* Ryan Stoudemire hit three-run home runs in both the eighth and ninth innings to give Charleston Southern (17-32, 8-16) a 7-2 victory over Gardner-Webb (27-25, 12-12) and a win of their Big South Conference series. Kyle Vesnesky added three hits for the Buccaneers.
* Campbell (29-21, 19-5) wrapped up the Big South Conference's regular-season title and clinched the series win with a 5-0 shutout of Winthrop (23-27, 14-10). The Eagles were held to two hits, one of them a double by Scout McFalls.
* A six-run sixth inning turned the game in Longwood's favor as the Lancers (16-34, 8-16) salvaged the final game of a Big South Conference series with Presbyterian (15-36, 8-16) with a 9-3 victory in Clinton. Jack McLaughlin, Jonathan White and Nick Wise had two his apiece for the Blue Hose.
* Jacksonville (34-17, 11-6) completed an Atlantic Sun series sweep of USC Upstate (23-27-1, 5-13) with a 15-3 win at Harley Park. Jake Bourke and Pat Raiff had two hits apiece for the Spartans.
* Sunday's 14-3 loss to regular-season champion UNC Greensboro (37-12, 18-3), coupled with Furman's win at East Tennessee State, assured The Citadel (17-36, 6-15) of being in the play-in game against Western Carolina at the Southern Conference Tournament at Fluor Field in Greenville later this month. The game was halted after seven innings because of the SoCon's run rule on getaway days. Jonathan Sabo had a single and drove in two runs for the Bulldogs.
Peach Belt Conference Tournament
* USC Aiken (35-19) fell short of its bid to win the league tournament, falling to top-seeded Georgia College (43-10), 7-5, in the championship. That proved costly, as later Sunday the Pacers did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional. Conner Durden had a two-run homer for USCA against Georgia College.
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