COLUMBIA, SC – North Carolina A&T looked poised for an upset win over the 23rd-ranked University of South Carolina (USC) on Tuesday at Founders Park. But the Gamecocks scored seven runs over their final two at-bats to defeat A&T 11-3. It was A&T's fifth straight loss to drop to 3-5 on the season. The Gamecocks improved to 9-0. 

Tre Williams led the Aggies by going 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Sophomore Canyon Brown drove in two runs. The Aggies trailed 4-0 going into the seventh before making a push toward their upset attempt. 

Junior Anthony Hennings singled through the right side to open the frame. Junior Chet Sikes then hit a one-out single to center field to put runners on first and second. Williams earned his RBI double with a blast to left field to score Hennings to put the Aggies down 4-1. Brown added two more Aggie runs with a double down the left field line to score Williams and Sikes to cut USC's lead to one, 4-3. The rally kept going when Luis Espinal walked. But the USC got out of the inning when junior TJ Ash flew out to left. 

But the Aggies could not contain the Gamecocks offense. In USC's half of the seventh, Ethan Petry hit an RBI sacrifice fly to right to score Caleb Denny, who reached on a single to start the inning. Talmadge LeCroy then laid down a sac bunt. He reached on a fielder's choice as the Aggies tried to throw out Cole Messina going home but were unsuccessful as USC took a 6-3 lead. 

A&T went down in order in the visitor's eighth, and USC began to pull away in its eighth. With the bases loaded, Messina hit a double to right center to score Will McGillis and Braylen Wimmer from third and second, respectively. Denny reached third and scored on an A&T error to clear the bases and give USC a 9-3 lead. Another RBI sac fly from Petry and an RBI double from LeCroy completed the scoring. 

A&T freshman Chris Moss singled in the ninth, but the Aggies went down in order from there. Right-handed pitcher Eli Jones (1-0) won for the Gamecocks. Offensively, Petry went 2-for-3 with three RBI. After pitching two innings, Coley Kilpatrick (0-2) got the start, and the loss for A&T. Six other Aggies took the mound for the Aggies on Tuesday. The Aggies will play in a weekend tournament featuring Western Michigan and Bucknell starting Friday at War Memorial Stadium.