South Carolina starting pitcher Blake Cooper had a career-high eight strikeouts.

Phil Disher belted two home runs, moving him into a tie for sixth on the team’s all-time homer list.

Leadoff hitter Reese Havens went 3-for-5, improving his team-best batting average to .363.

And yet, in the only numbers that truly matter, South Carolina lost to Vanderbilt 7-5 on Friday, knocking the Gamecocks out of the double-elimination Southeastern Conference baseball tournament.

Vanderbilt starter Nick Christiani (6-4) gets part of the credit for the Commodores victory, since he pitched 6º strong innings, scattering five hits and allowing only one earned run.

Still, this was a game the Gamecocks know they easily could have won, as many of the numbers indicate. But in the end, too many of the close calls went Vanderbilt’s way

“It’s one of those deals. Woulda, coulda, shoulda,” South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said. “But, that’s the way baseball is. It all evens out.”

Three moments in particular stand out.

First, with the Gamecocks leading 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Cooper (5-6) was trying to get out of a bases-loaded situation. He struck out third baseman Pedro Alvarez, who is considered to be the potential No. 1 pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball draft, for the second out of the inning.

But, Vandy shortstop Ryan Flaherty followed with a hopper up the middle that bounced over Cooper and headed past second base. Havens managed to make a diving stop of the ball at the edge of the outfield grass, but it was not enough to prevent two runners from scoring, giving the Commodores a 2-1 lead.

Then in the sixth, with Vanderbilt leading 4-1, relief pitcher Will Atwood picked up two quick outs for the Gamecocks. That was followed in rapid succession by a walk, an RBI triple from Alex Feinberg and a two-run homer by Alvarez.

And just like that, the Commodores led, 7-1.

“Instead of a quick inning (in the sixth) it becomes three runs on the board for them,” Tanner said. “Then they had two (runs) on the tough play that Reese had. That’s five of their runs right there.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to get runs the way they got them, but they did it.”

South Carolina rallied for four runs in the eighth to close the gap to 7-5. The big hit was a three-run homer by Disher, his second of the game, 19th of the season and 42nd of his career.

Then the Gamecocks nearly tied the game in the ninth. After Scott Wingo reached base on a walk, Havens sent a 0-1 pitch to deep right field, but it was caught on the warning track.

“I just missed it,” Havens said. “I hit the ball all right, but this is a pretty big park, and I knew it wasn’t going out.

“We did a good job fighting back there at the end, but we couldn’t get close enough to win the game.”

Now the Gamecocks return home and wait to see if their 38-21 record is good enough to get them into the NCAA Tournament.

“I just hope to hear our name called on Monday,” Tanner said. “Hopefully, we won enough games to have our name mentioned. You never know. Hopefully, we get a chance to play, and we can be dangerous at the right time of the year.”