RALEIGH, N.C. — South Carolina coach Ray Tanner met his former team for the first time in his coaching career Saturday night, and now he’s left hoping it won’t be the last time this weekend.

The Gamecocks gave up an RBI single to N.C. State’s Marcus Jones in the seventh inning that broke a 4-4 tie to lead to the Wolfpack’s 5-4 victory in the winner’s bracket game at the Raleigh Regional in the NCAA tournament.

“It was one of those games it seemed every single pitch made a difference tonight,” Tanner said. “We had our chances, they had their chances and they came up with a run there in the seventh with some key hits.”

The Gamecocks (39-22) play an elimination game today at 1 p.m. against James Madison (39-18), who upset Charlotte, 13-12, earlier in the day. The winner will face N.C. State (40-20) at 6 p.m.

N.C. State tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning on a wild pitch from Brandon Todd (3-2), who recorded the loss from starter Nick Godwin. In the seventh, the Wolfpack struck for three straight singles, including Jones’ go-ahead RBI, off Todd.

N.C. State starting pitcher Clayton Shunick entered the game with a 2.12 era and baffled USC’s prolific offense early, giving up two runs on eight hits by the end.

“You can’t be too upset with your hitters because (Shunick) is that good,” Tanner said. “We had some pretty good swings at him but he was a big key in that ballgame.”

South Carolina’s Whit Merrifield led the Gamecocks at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance and an RBI.

USC’s only chance to regain the lead late was squashed when Justin Smoak flied out to right and James Darnell, who was 0-for-4 with three strike outs, grounded out with two runners on.

The Gamecocks rallied from down 3-1 after four innings with a run in the fifth and a lead-taking two runs in the sixth before N.C. State rallied to score the final two runs of the game.

Leftfielder DeAngelo Mack hit his second home run in as many days in the fourth inning. The solo shot to right field came on a 2-2 pitch with two outs.

“I’m trying to have a good approach at the plate and see pitches,” Mack said. “Against Shunick, I knew he had a good splitter, so I just tried to see that up and when I did it was a home run.”