HOOVER, Alabama (SECSports.com) – No. 11 seed South Carolina eliminated No. 10 seed Missouri from the SEC Tournament, beating the Tigers 10-2.
Gamecock freshman Carlos Cortes led the South Carolina offense with two three-run home runs in back-to-back innings. Cortes’ 6 RBI tie the single-game record for the SEC Tournament, most recently set by LSU’s Blake Dean in 2008. Cortes now has 12 homers on the year, 10 against SEC teams.
“These guys just don’t want to quit,” Cortes said. “They don’t want to die. There are some seniors that might not get a chance to play baseball ever again and I know they want it bad. We all want it bad. That’s really the mentality.”
‘Carlos Cortes’ was trending nationally on Twitter after the game.
South Carolina hit 14-for-39 (.359) as a team. This is the first time since 2007 South Carolina has won two games in the SEC Tournament.
Gamecock RHP Wil Crowe (6-5) struck out nine batters, only allowing four hits and one run over six innings pitched.
“It was good to get back out here and be able pitch for the first time ever in the SEC Tournament,” Crowe said. “It was a big accomplishment. I was able to control my fastball on both sides of the plate.”
There have already been 20 home runs in this year’s tournament, the most since 27 were hit back in 2008.
Cortes’ first homer came in the top of the fifth, scoring Danny Blair and Justin Row, who had both reached base on singles. Missouri head coach Steve Bieser called RHP Bryce Montes De Oca from the bullpen, who closed out the inning.
Montes De Oca allowed three singles, Cortes’ second home run and 4 RBI in the first five batters he faced in the sixth, extending the South Carolina lead to 10-1.
UP NEXT: South Carolina plays the loser of Game 11 between #3 seed Kentucky and #2 seed LSU. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 4 pm ET on SEC Network.
