COLUMBIA, S.C. — Aaron Hill hit a first-inning grand slam to highlight a six-run first inning, and Roy Corcoran again pitched five sterling innings of relief as fourth-ranked LSU cruised past seventh-ranked South Carolina, 12-5 on Saturday evening at Sarge Frye Field.
The Tigers (24-8-1, 10-4) remain in a first-place tie for the overall Southeastern Conference lead with Ole Miss (25-9-1, 10-4), who visits Baton Rouge next weekend. LSU, which has now won 10 of its last 11 conference road series, can complete the three-game sweep of the Gamecocks (25-9, 7-7) Sunday at 1:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised across Louisiana on the Guaranty Sports Network, and can be seen locally on Cable Channel 10.
Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot started the Tigers’ biggest first inning of the year with back-to-back singles, then Wally Pontiff reached on an error by Carolina second baseman Byron Jeffcoat to load the bases.
Gamecock starter Gary Bell (6-4) got Todd Linden to pop to short before Hill crushed a fastball to left field for his first career grand slam and the Tigers’ third of the season.
LSU wasn’t done. Bryan Moore then walked, and after Sean Barker reached on a fielder’s choice, Matt Heath sent Bell to the showers with a two-run homer to left. In 2/3 of an inning, Bell yielded six runs on four hits.
Fontenot, who led LSU’s 16-hit attack by going 4-for-6, hit a two-run homer in the second off of reliever Blake Taylor, but in general, Taylor had his best outing of the season, allowing just one more run (unearned) over the next five-plus innings to allow Carolina to stay close.
Chris Bono’s home run in the second got the Gamecocks on the board, and the defending SEC champions began to slowly eat into the LSU lead, scoring another run in the fourth on Sheldon Brown’s RBI single, then getting two in the fifth on Jeffcoat’s double and a grounder by Tim Whittaker to make it 8-4.
But from there, Carolina got no closer, as Corcoran relieved starter Jason Scobie and proceeded to allow just one hit and one walk over the final five innings to improve to 5-1. One week earlier, Corcoran pitched five scoreless innings of relief to help LSU beat Kentucky.
Pontiff added a solo home run in the seventh, and the Tigers capped scoring with a pair of runs in the eighth.