COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 18 Tennessee baseball captured its first road series win of the season when it took care of No. 13 South Carolina in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader in Columbia, S.C.
The Gamecocks found some offense in the first game of the twin-bill to beat Tennessee 6-1, but the Vols responded in game two and pulled away for a 12-1 victory in the rubber match.
Tennessee sophomore pitcher Drew Beam turned in one of his strongest outings of the season following a couple lackluster starts. Beam went six innings in the seven-inning game and struck out four batters while letting in just one run to earn the victory.
Griffin Merritt and Cal Stark hit solo home runs for the Vols, while Christian Scott hammered a three-run shot in the seventh inning to put the game to rest.
The Vols finished the season 16-14 in SEC play but went 11-4 in the second half of the conference schedule.
Tennessee looks ahead to the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hover, Ala. next week. The Vols enter the tournament as the No. 7 seed and will play on Tuesday, May 23 against 10th-seeded Texas A&M.
