April 1, 2017
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Freshman Davis Daniel pitched four no-hit innings, but No. 17 Auburn baseball fell 7-0 to No. 6 South Carolina Saturday at Plainsman Park in front of a second-straight sellout.
"I thought Clarke Schmidt is the best guy we saw all year," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "He was outstanding. Coach (Chad) Holbrook, a great coach, he talked about Casey yesterday when we met behind home plate and said 'it's the best outing we've had against us this year'. I think I reciprocated that just now and said that was by far the best outing we've seen.
"I think you run into a buzzsaw every now and then. You don't want it and you want to keep going, but I think that happens to every club, great club, average club, bad club. That happens."
Daniel did not allow a hit through the first four innings, but South Carolina got to the freshman in the fifth. After a lead-off single, Carlos Cortes tripled off the wall in right and LT Tolbert followed up with a run-scoring single for a 2-0 South Carolina lead.
Daniel (2-1) finished with four runs allowed in 5.1 innings pitched. He struck out four with two walks.
A grand slam by Cortes in the sixth extended South Carolina's lead to 6-0.
Cortes was 2-for-3 with five RBI and two runs. Jacob Olson had two hits and scored three times.
South Carolina starter Clarke Schmidt (4-0) did not allow a run in eight innings. He struck out 10 with three walks.
Auburn (22-7, 6-2 SEC) turned a pair of double plays in the game to extend their SEC lead with 29 on the season.
The Tigers had five hits on the night including a double by Will Holland. Catcher Blake Logan threw out three would-be base stealers in the game. He's allowed only two stolen bases in nine attempts this season.
The Gamecocks (19-7, 6-2) got a run on a wild pitch in the ninth for the final margin.
Auburn and South Carolina play the rubber match Sunday at 1 pm.