COLUMBIA, S.C. — Right-hander Harris Honeycutt worked seven scoreless innings Friday night to lead third-ranked South Carolina to a 5-0 win over LSU at Sarge Frye Field.
The Gamecocks improved to 16-2 overall and 1-0 in the Southeastern Conference. LSU fell to 12-8 and 0-1 in the SEC opener for both clubs.
Game 2 of the series begins at 3 p.m. CDT Saturday. The game can be heard on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, and it will be televised regionally by the Jumbo Sports Network (Cable Ch. 6 in Baton Rouge).
The audio broadcast and live stats of Saturday’s game will be available in the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net.
Honeycutt (5-0) blanked the Tigers through seven innings, allowing just three hits with two walks and a season-high nine strikeouts.
LSU starter Charlie Furbush (3-2) was he charged with the loss, though he pitched effectively for much of his 6.1-inning outing. Furbush allowed three earned runs on six hits with three walks and a season-high 10 strikeouts.
“I thought Charlie competed very well and kept us in the game,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “Ten strikeouts against their lineup is not easy to do. South Carolina has an excellent ball club, and he kept us within striking distance. Honeycutt did a nice job for them in keeping our hitters off balance.
“We’ll be ready to play (Saturday), and I know our guys are going to compete on every pitch. We just need to find a way to generate some offense against a very good pitching staff.”
The Gamecocks grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when leftfielder Harley Lail launched a Furbush pitch over the left-centerfield wall.
Furbush and Honeycutt remained locked in a 1-0 pitchers’ duel until the bottom of the seventh, when the Gamecocks struck for four runs.
Andrew Crisp walked and advanced to second on Travis Jones’ bunt single. Reese Haven followed with a bunt that was fielded by third baseman J.T. Wise; however, second baseman Chris Jackson failed to secure Wise’s throw as he covered first base. Crisp scored on the play to give the Gamecocks a 2-0 lead.
Lail followed with a fielder’s choice grounder to score Jones, and Trent Kline delivered an RBI double.
Furbush intentionally walked Justin Smoak before he was lifted for reliever Paul Bertuccini, who retired Phil Disher on an infield pop-up for the second out. But, Lonnie Chisenhall’s single scored Kline for the final run of the inning.
Reliever Curtis Johnson fired two scoreless innings for South Carolina in relief of Honeycutt.
South Carolina 5, LSU 0 (Mar 16, 2007 at Columbia, S.C.)
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LSU…………………. 000 000 000 – 0 3 3 (12-8, 0-1 SEC)
South Carolina…… 100 000 40X – 5 7 1 (16-2, 1-0 SEC)
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Pitchers: LSU – Charlie Furbush; Paul Bertuccini(7).
South Carolina – Harris Honeycutt; Curtis Johnson(8).
Win-Harris Honeycutt(5-0) Loss-Charlie Furbush(3-2) T-2:29 A-4421
HR USC – Harley Lail (2).