A 6-run 2nd inning from Auburn made the difference on Sunday afternoon as the Tigers won game three against the University of South Carolina 7-5 Sunday at Founders Park.

South Carolina got out to an early lead in the bottom of the 1st inning after Carson Skipper allowed a one-out walk and back-to-back singles off the bats of Luke Berryhill and Jacob Olson to load the bases for the Gamecocks. Chris Cullenfollowed up with an RBI walk to score Hopkins from 3rd, giving the Gamecocks the 1-0 lead. Skipper limited the damage, retiring the next two batters on a strikeout and pop out.

Auburn answered as it responded with 6 runs of its own in the top of the 2nd inning. Will Holland hit a 2-run homer to center field after Conor Davis was hit by a pitch. Bliss and Scheffler followed that by drawing back-to-back walks as South Carolina made a pitching change. Former Lexington County Blowfish Cam Tringali came in and got a flyout for the second out but a single and three-run home run by Edouard Julien made it 6-1 Tigers.

The Gamecocks got a couple runs back in the bottom of the second inning. George Callil and Nick Neville hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning, cutting Auburn's lead to 6-2. South Carolina followed that with two hard groundballs to the second baseman in order to advance Neville from 2nd base to home to make it 6-3.

Auburn added another run in the top of the third inning off a double steal, but the Gamecocks did not stop fighting. South Carolina responded with 2 solo home runs from Ian Jenkins and George Callil in the bottom of the 8th inning, shrinking the Auburn lead to 2 runs. South Carolina threatened again in the bottom of the 9th with back to back singles by Campbell and Hopkins to lead off the inning. Jacob Olson just missed a 3-run home run to left but it was caught at the track. A flyout to right ended the game.

Richard Fitts got the win for the Tigers, allowing just three hits in five innings of work. For South Carolina, Shook suffered the loss, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks and four earned runs through 1 1/3 innings of work. Cody Greenhill recorded his 6th save of the season. Berryhill and Callil each had 3 hits for the Gamecocks. Callil also scored two runs.

South Carolina head to Charlotte, N.C. Tuesday for a non-conference matchup against North Carolina State at 7 p.m.