COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Gardner-Webb (5-5) baseball team was handed a 14-4 loss at the hands of South Carolina (9-0) on Tuesday evening inside Founders Park. This marked the first road game of the season for the Runnin' Bulldogs.

Gardner-Webb jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first as designated hitter Dale Francis Jr. drove in a pair with a hard single up the middle, plating centerfielder Lawson Knight and right fielder Nick Capozzi.

The Gamecocks came back with two of their own in the bottom half of the frame to knot the score at 2-2. Jase Woita belted a solo homerun to left before Kennedy Jones scored the tying run on a wild pitch. USC then took the lead in the bottom of the second with two more homeruns off the bats of Max Kaufer and Woita's second of the game.

After Carolina padded the lead with another solo shot in the third, Gardner-Webb put together a solid at-bat in the fourth, scoring a pair while pulling to within 5-4. Francis started things with a double down the left field line before first baseman touched off on his first long ball of the season, a two-run shot to left center.

South Carolina came back with five runs on six hits in the bottom of the frame, the big blow coming off the bat of Nathan Hall, who lifted a 2-1 count over the left field wall for a three-run home run, giving the Gamecocks a 10-4 advantage.

The Gamecocks added four more runs in the bottom of the sixth while holding GWU scoreless in the visitor's half of the seventh for the 14-4 run-rule victory.

Gardner-Webb will be back in action on Friday, February 28 as it opens a three-game set at App State in Boone, N.C. Game one is set to begin at 3 p.m.