Gamecocks wiggle out of bases-loaded jam in 9th, hold on against USC Upstate

June 9, 2013; Cary, NC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks catcher Grayson Greiner (21) bats against the North Carolina Tarheels during the Chapel Hill Super Regional at Boshamer Stadium. The South Carolina Gamecocks won 8-0. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

The win streak is up to four for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Kyle Martin was 4-4 with an RBI, Gene Cone went 3-5 while driving in a run of his own, and Joey Pankake had a 3-3 night and scored two runs as the Gamecocks escaped a bases-loaded jam in the top of the 9th and topped USC Upstate, 6-1, in the second of a five-game stretch at Carolina Stadium.

Freshman Matthew Vogel didn’t look great in his second start of the year as he allowed a run, a hit and walked four in just 1.1 innings. But the bullpen would take over for the remaining 7.1 innings and allowed just five hits and three walks down the stretch to keep the Spartans (14-30) off the board.

Much like last night, the Gamecocks’ offense got off to a little bit of a slow start, but needed just one inning, the 5th, to do most of their damage. Spartan pitching walked three batters and eight men came to the plate as Carolina scored four runs–a Cone RBI single, a bases loaded walk to Grayson Greiner and two more on an error–to take a 4-1 lead. Martin’s RBI double and another unearned run made it 6-1 in the 7th.

So now it’s back to SEC play for the Gamecocks as the Alabama Crimson Tide come to town. Can the Gamecocks (32-10) shake off their inconsistent play in conference action and shake off back-to-back series losses to Florida and Auburn? We’ll find out this weekend. First pitch on Friday is at 7pm with Saturday and Sunday’s games to be shown nationwide on ESPN at 2pm and 1pm, respectively.