South Carolina vs. Missouri enters weather delay in eighth inning

The South Carolina and Missouri baseball game on Sunday experienced a weather delay in the bottom of the 8th inning. Officials and umpires got together to discuss the issue on the field, before it was officially announced by the ESPN-plus broadcast crew. The South Carolina baseball Twitter page also confirmed the news.

Our game currently is in a rain delay with two out and a runners on first in the bottom of the 8th inning. Carolina leads 7-4.

We'll provide updates as soon as we get them.#Gamecocks | #ForeverToThee

— Gamecock Baseball (@GamecockBasebll) May 5, 2024

Shortly after that delay was announced at 4:36 PM EST, updates came rolling in around twenty minutes later. South Carolina and Missouri are tentatively scheduled to restart at 5:10 PM EST. Missouri has a runner on first with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

In total, it was a 32-minute weather delay they experienced in Columbia, Missouri, before finally starting to resume play. The game is being televised on ESPN+.

Once play resumed, South Carolina wasted little time in putting two more runs on the board. One was a solo shot in the ninth inning by Gamecocks catcher Cole Messina.

It was the second home run of the series for him. He finished the day with three hits, one home run, one double, and one RBI. For the entire series, Messina went 7-for-11 at the plate with four runs scored, two doubles, a triple, two home runs, and seven RBIs.

South Carolina took the lead 9-4 in the ninth inning and that would be the final score. They brought home eight runs in the final three innings to complete the comeback at Taylor Stadium (Columbia, Missouri). Missouri was up 4-1 until the seventh inning on Sunday, but Dalton Reeves blasted a solo shot. And then Ethan Petry was able to tie the game at 4-4 with a two-run blast over the center field wall.

It’s the Gamecocks first series win over Missouri since 2013. South Carolina’s Austin Brinling also had the play of the day, when Missouri blasted what would have been a grand slam back to the wall. Brinling jumped above the wall and made the catch, taking away four runs off the board for the Tigers.

Pitcher Connor McCreery got the win for the Gamecocks. He struck out four batters in 2.2 innings. South Carolina is currently ranked No. 15 in the nation, and they have a 32-15 overall record, including a 13-11 record in the SEC. They are tied with Georgia for third place in the SEC East.

Missouri currently sits at 21-28 overall, including 7-17 in the SEC.