GREENVILLE, S.C. -- T.J. Hopkins homered twice and South Carolina took advantage of three Furman errors to  score seven unearned en route to a 12-7 victory in Tuesday baseball action at Fluor Field.

The win improves South Carolina to 15-6 on the season while Furman falls to 5-13 with the loss.

After Furman took a 1-0 lead on a Jabari Richards RBI triple in the third inning, South Carolina tied it on a Hopkins double in the fourth that drove home Quinntin Perez.  The next batter, Luke Berryhill, put the Gamecocks up 2-1 with a one-out single that plated Hopkins.  Three batters later and following a walk, Paladin second baseman  Banks Griffith fielded a ground ball off the bat of Chris Cullen but he threw wildly to first base, allowing Berryhill to score to make it 3-1.

Brady Allen took advantage of the extended inning when he rocketed the second pitch he saw from Paladin starting pitcher John Michael Bertrand into center field to score two more runs for a 5-1 advantage.

The Gamecocks added to their lead in the fifth after another Paladin error brought Hopkins to the plate, resulting in his first home run of the game, a two-out, two-run shot to center field.

South Carolina tacked on single runs in the sixth and seventh and finished with three more in the eighth.

Furman, which out-hit South Carolina 13-11, got home runs from John Michael Boswell, Sterling Turmon, and Dax Roper.  The Paladins plated four runs in the ninth inning against a trio of Gamecock relievers.

Hopkins's two home runs highlighted a 3-for-4, four-RBI performance.  Brady Allen went 2-for-4 and also drove in four runs.

Boswell and David Webel had three hits apiece to pace Furman.

The win was credited to Dylan Harley (1-1), who allowed a run on four hits over 3 2/3 innings of relief.

Bertrancd (1-2) took the loss after working six innings and surrendering eight runs, only three of which were earned.  He walked two and recorded a career high seven strikeouts.