Zach Osborne's hit a fourth-inning grand slam and Nick Hernandez pitched seven solid innings to push Tennessee to a 9-5 win over South Carolina in front of 1,616 fans Friday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

"That was a good game against a very good pitcher, one of the best pitchers in the country," Tennessee coach Todd Raleigh said.

"We outpitched some mistakes and got some runs. And we did some good things, too. Nick [Hernandez] battled tonight, [Matt] Ramsay was unbelievable out of the pen. That might have been the best we've seen all year."

Osborne's grand slam was part of a six-run fourth inning that put the Vols up for good. After three consecutive singles by Cody Hawn, Blake Forsythe and Charlie Thurber, Osborne crushed the bases clearing, homer.

Cody Brown added a two-run homer later in the inning. Brown later left the game after reinjuring his shoulder. The senior has been playing with a torn labrum.

The Gamecocks (30-19, 12-13 SEC) used RBI singles from Jackie Bradley and Mack Deangelo to bring the score to 9-4 in the fifth inning but the rally would fall short as Hernandez settled in on the mound.

Hernandez (3-5) yielded only three earned runs on 12 hits, while striking out five.

Ramsay came out of the bullpen to shut the door on the Gamecocks, pitching two innings of perfect baseball to seal the victory. The freshman struck out three of the six batters he faced.

"It was a great all-around team effort," Raleigh said. "I thought we played like our backs were against the wall -- like we had to win.

"Now are we perfect? No, but I was pretty excited about how we came out and played tonight."

After giving up a two-out run in the top of the first inning, Tennessee responded in the bottom of the frame with three runs of its own.

Brown had a run-scoring single after P.J. Polk led the game off with a double. Kentrail Davis then hit a two-run home run to right-center field to put three runs on the board before the Vols recorded an out.

Tennessee (22-27, 8-17 SEC) returns to action Saturday at 4 p.m., in the second game of the weekend series with the Gamecocks.