Gamecocks aim to rebound Sunday after flat performance in Greenville
GREENVILLE -- After watching South Carolina scuffle both at the plate and in the field throughout Saturday’s 5-0 loss to Clemson in Game 2 of the rivalry series before a sellout crowd at Flour Field, Gamecocks coach Chad Holbrook quickly turned his attention to Sunday’s rubber game at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
In particular, he anxiously awaits to see how the Gamecocks handle adversity after they suffered their first loss of the season following 10 wins to open the campaign.
Game 3 of the annual three-game baseball showdown is schedule for Sunday at 2 p.m. Taylor Widener is the scheduled starting pitcher for USC.
“I’m interested to see how our players respond tomorrow. It’s obviously a big game. But it’s a big game because its’s South Carolina and Clemson and the series is on the line. It will not make or break our season, but we will try to play our best baseball game we can tomorrow. Obviously, we’ll have to play a lot better than we did today.”
Less said about Saturday’s loss, the better. The Gamecocks were thoroughly handcuffed by Clemson pitchers Clate Schmidt (5.1 IP) and Pat Krall (3.2), who combined limit USC to two hits while striking out 10 and walking four.
Schmidt, older brother of USC’s Friday night starter Clarke Schmidt, underwent cancer treatment last year.
“Clate was phenomenal the way he performed,” Holbrook said. “What a great story. He is an inspiration to a lot of people. He certainly pitched well on a big stage today. I tip my cap to him for all he has been through and the way he performed. It was impressive.”
How dominate were Schmidt and Krall? The Gamecocks hit just three balls out of the infield in the first eight innings and didn’t record their first hit until a one-out double by Jonah Bride in the top of the sixth when the Gamecocks, trailing 4-0, loaded the bases but failed to score as Alex Destino (1-for-4, 3 K after going 5-for-5 on Friday night) and freshman Chris Cullen both struck out against Krall.
“We felt like we had a chance to get back into it there and we had two cracks at it,” Holbrook said. “(Krall) threw some pretty good pitches in there. We didn’t come up with the big hit. We didn’t square up may balls today.”
The Gamecocks didn’t seriously threaten again as Krall set down the first nine Gamecock batters he faced. Schmidt, meanwhile, faced just 18 Gamecock batters through 5.1 innings (two over the minimum), allowing only a pair of walks.
Gamecock starter Braden Webb struggled with his control early, walking three Clemson batters and forcing home a run in the bottom of the first. An inning later, the Tigers scored again on a triple and error by USC second baseman L.T. Tolbert, the first of two miscues in the field for USC on the day.
“We did not play a good baseball game today from a defensive standpoint,” Holbrook said. “Braden hung in there and pitched out of trouble. I felt very fortunate in the fifth innings to be behind only 2-0. We still had a chance to win, but we just couldn’t muster much offense against their pitchers.
“You have to give credit to the other team when you get your tails kicked like we just did. Their pitchers were better than our hitters today.”
Webb allowed four hits and four runs with seven strikeouts and five walks in 4.1 innings.
“He gave us a chance to win even though he walked too many,” Holbrook said. “He threw some good pitches too. He just has to get more consistent. When he commands his stuff, he is very tough. But he was inconsistent today.”
Schmidt’s knee-buckling changeup kept Gamecock hitters off-balance throughout his 83-pitch stint.
“When you have a good changeup with fastball arm speed, it’s difficult on a hitter,” Holbrook said. “He could locate it. He located his fastball, so that made his changeup that much more effective. He pitched a heckuva game. He had command of all his pitches.”
Perhaps the Gamecock hitter most affected by Schmidt’s presence on the mound was Alex Destino. Less than 24 hours after going 5-for-5 in USC’s 8-1 win Friday night, Destino fanned twice against Schmidt and finished 1-for-4 with three strikeouts.
“That wasn’t baseball, it was me not making the adjustments I needed to in the batter’s box,” Destino said. “That’s something I will go to bed with tonight and be sure it doesn’t happen tomorrow.”
Another Clemson triple in the bottom of the fifth scored two runs after a walk and muffed throw by Destino at first base. The next inning, moments after USC has failed to take advantage of a bases loaded, one-out situation, Clemson’s Chase Pinder launched a solo homer over the left field wall on the first pitch of the inning by reliever Brandon Murray.
Now USC and Clemson will play for bragging rights on Sunday.
“(Game 3) will be a good barometer in how we go about handling this setback,” Holbrook said. “They deserved to win today. We have to hit the ball better. We didn’t match them today.”
HOW THE RUNS SCORED:
CLE 1st – Pinder struck out, Rohlman doubled to left, White walked, Beer flied to center, Wilson walked, Okey walked (RBI), Jolly grounded into fielder’s choice (U-6). ONE RUN, ONE HIT (CLE 1-0).
CLE 2nd – Williams struckout, Renwick struck out, Pinder tripled to centerfield, Rohlman reached on throwing error (E4)(run scores), White struck out. ONE RUN, ONE HIT (CLE 2-0).
CLE 5th – White struck out, Beer walked, Wilson reached on fielding error (E3), Okey tripled to right-center (2 RBI), <MURRAY FOR WEBB>, Jolly fouled out to third, Williams hit by pitch. Renwick flied to right. TWO RUNS, ONE HIT (CLE 4-0).
CLE 6th – Pinder homered to left (RBI), Rohlman struck out, White grounded to third, Beer grounded to second. ONE RUN, ONE HIT (CLE 5-0).
