Grand slam lifts South Carolina baseball over Georgia 7-2

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Nick Ebert hit two home runs including a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to lead South Carolina over No. 15 Georgia at Carolina Stadium.

The Bulldogs (35-18, 15-13 SEC) and Gamecocks (35-19, 15-13 SEC) are now tied for second in the SEC East with the winner of the series getting the higher seed in next week’s SEC tournament.

South Carolina led 3-2 entering the seventh and a Georgia fielding error extended the inning for Ebert, who opened a five-run lead for the Gamecocks with his grand slam.

Sam Dyson (8-4) tossed a complete game and allowed just four hits with 13 strikeouts for South Carolina. After Joey Lewis singled in the first, Dyson retired 24 of the final 26 batters. Georgia starter Trevor Holder (7-4) limited South Carolina to three earned runs on five hits in 6 2-3 innings.

The two teams will play the second game of the series today at 7:05 p.m. Alex McRee (4-2, 4.35) will start for Georgia and Nolan Belcher (3-3, 5.48 ERA) will start for South Carolina.