Gamecocks double up USC Upstate in Greenville
GREENVILLE—South Carolina's baseball team hadn’t had a double-digit run total in 10 games, since February 27 against Penn State. The Gamecocks broke that streak Tuesday, beating USC Upstate 12-6 in a 3-1/2 hour marathon at Fluor Field in Greenville.
The Gamecocks had an offensive explosion, scoring 12 runs on 16 hits. They also earned their sixth-straight win. Nine different players got a hit against the Spartans with the top three hitters combining to go 6-for-16.
“We swung the bat pretty good tonight. I think we got contributions from a lot of different people,” head coach Chad Holbrook said. “All-in-all it was a good road win for us against a really good Upstate team.”
South Carolina started off a little sluggish, falling behind 2-0 early behind two singles and back-to-back fielding errors from Alex Destino and Matt Williams.
Taylor Widener gave up both runs and was pulled early in the fourth inning.
The Spartan lead was short-lived as first baseman LT Tolbert crushed a two-run home run over the right field wall to tie the game. It was the Upstate native’s first career homer, and he did it in front of his mom, dad, sister and two close friends from home.
“They were just excited. They were all smiling and clapping,” he said. “I’ll get to talk to them after this, but I’m sure they’re all excited for me.”
Upstate would take the lead in the following inning, but the Gamecocks would score two runs in the fifth inning to take the lead, which they would not relinquish again.
Marcus Mooney, whose solo home run in the fifth inning tied the game at three, powered the comeback. It was his second career homer and it was smacked over the miniature Green Monster.
“Before the game a bunch of guys were giving me some trash for not being able to hit home runs: Dom Thompson-Williams, Alex Destino, our big boppers,” Mooney said. “So I decided to show them even though I’m little I can step up to the plate and do the same thing they do.”
Mooney would finish going 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. His four hits tied a career high.
Along with Tolbert, John Jones, Jonah Bride, DC Arendas and Chris Cullen all had two RBI Tuesday.
Mooney and Dom Thompson-Williams each had one RBI.
After the Gamecocks jumped out to a 12-3, the Spartans mounted a small comeback behind shaky pitching from Reed Scott. The junior righty pitched one inning and gave up three runs on five hits. His ERA went from 2.51 to 5.27.
His runs ended a three-inning scoreless streak started by middle reliever Brandon Murray, who only allowed one hit and one run in 3.1 innings pitched. He also struck out two.
Murray earned his first win of the season.
“Brandon came in and threw curveballs for strikes and got ahead in the count,” Holbrook said. “He calmed everything down with his outing. He hadn’t pitched much for us. As much as he’s an integral part of our pitching staff, we hadn’t got him out there enough. So it was good get him out there.”
Tuesday was South Carolina’s sixth straight win after dropping two to Clemson and their eighth win in the last 10 games. The Gamecocks return to Founder’s Park Wednesday for their next game, hosting Davidson at 7 p.m. before heading into SEC play against Arkansas this weekend.
“Anytime you win on the road you got to feel good about your team. The SEC is a totally different animal,” Holbrook said. “We got another game tomorrow and after Davidson we’ll start looking forward to the weekend. But we’re lucky to play baseball in the SEC.”
Line score
South Carolina: 0 0 2 0 2 2 3 3 0 = 12-16-2
USC Upstate: 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 = 6-10- 0
Top plays
--Mooney made a diving play at short and Tolbert made a reaching grab for the final out of the first inning.
--Upstate’s Zach Krider singled home a run in the second inning to give the Spartans the lead early. The next batter, Anthony Vaglica had an RBI fielder’s choice after a Matt Williams throwing error.
--With a runner on first and two outs in the fifth inning, Murray struck out James Fowlkes to preserve the 4-3 lead.
--Tolbert made a crouching grab in the sixth inning on a hard-hit ball right at him.
--After Murray gave up a walk, Scott came in and got the next batter looking to end the seventh inning and keep the lead at six runs.
Pitching lines
South Carolina
Taylor Widener: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 3 K
Brandon Murray: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Reed Scott: 1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, K
Tyler Johnson: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
USC Upstate
Tyler Jackson: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB 7 K
Zach Mitchell: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Jordan Miller: .2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Richie Lacell: .2 IP 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Elijah Willingham: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
