AUBURN, AL – South Carolina erupted for 11 runs in the first five innings and starting pitcher Michael Roth struck out eight batters on the way to a 12-5 victory over Auburn on Friday evening in the series opener at Plainsman Park. The Gamecocks improve to 28-11 and 9-7 in the SEC while the loss drops Auburn to 21-17 and 7-9 in league play. Game two of the series is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET and will be televised live on SportSouth.
Carolina had a 13-hit night vs. the Tigers with eight of the hits coming from four freshman position players. Connor Bright went 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI, Grayson Greiner was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI, Tanner English had one hit with two runs scored and a RBI and Joey Pankake tallied a hit and two RBI as well. Evan Marzilli added two hits and two runs scored as well. Eight of the nine Gamecock position starters had at least one hit. The 13 hits mark the highest total for the Gamecocks vs. a SEC opponent this year.
Roth allowed four runs on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings with two walks and eight strikeouts to improve to 4-0 on the season.
(USC sports information contributed to this report).
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