Gamecocks take Ole Miss series with 9-5 win as Webb strikes out 14
OXFORD, Miss. - South Carolina starting pitcher Braden Webb settled in after a rocky first inning and retired 17 straight batters as the Gamecocks (22-2, 5-0) took the game and the series in a 9-5 victory at Ole Miss Friday night.
The Gamecocks' freshman right-hander walked two hitters in a row after retiring the leadoff man in the first, which prompted a visit from pitching coach Jerry Meyers.
Meyers' message to an amped-up Webb was simple: show everyone what you're capable of.
"Him coming out there and kicking me in the butt is always great," Webb said with a smile. "Just seeing his face, just makes me really happy."
Colby Bortles' two-RBI double scored both runners that Webb had issued free passes to in the frame, but it was lights out from there as he sat down 17 straight Rebels and earned the win.
"After that first inning, I was just able to locate all three pitches," Webb said. "Normally, I'm one to try to throw it a hard as I can and run it up there, but today I just felt good sitting at 92, 93 (mph), because I know that if I locate that fastball with the offspeed pitches the way that I was tonight, then I can do big things."
Hitter after Ole Miss hitter came to the plate and went back to the dugout as Webb cruised through the next five innings with most of his outs coming via the strikeout.
Webb's 14 strikeouts were the most for a Carolina pitcher since Billy Buckner struck out 16 vs. Clemson on March 6, 2004. Webb allowed just four hits and three earned runs in eight innings of work. He didn't walk another batter after his two in the first.
"He's got three big-league pitches and when they're in the strike zone he's awfully tough," Holbrook said. "We saw a couple of glimpses of that this fall against our guys and tonight he had them all going - his changeup, his curveball, and was throwing his fastball where he wanted to. He looked like a big-leaguer tonight and we needed it because we had to hold on for dear life there at the end."
Webb's performance overshadowed another productive night at the plate as all nine Carolina batters had at least one hit for the second consecutive night and the Gamecocks totaled 14 hits.
After Ole Miss struck for two runs in the first, Carolina immediately answered with a run in the top of the second on a Chris Cullen single through the left side. The freshman catcher was 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
South Carolina took the lead in the third inning on an LT Tolbert RBI-single and a Dom Thompson-Williams two-out RBI-infield single. Ole Miss appeared to be out of the inning but Thompson-Williams beat it out as shortstop Errol Robinson's throw pulled the first baseman off the bag.
Carolina extended its lead in the fifth on Jonah Bride's RBI groundout to second and Cullen's RBI double.
Tolbert beat out a potential double play that would have ended the eighth inning to allow Alex Destino to score and the Gamecocks to take a 6-2 lead.
South Carolina tacked on three seemingly meaningless insurance runs in the ninth inning, but they would prove to be crucial as it turned out.
After Carolina scored a run on a first-and-third double steal, Marcus Mooney singled home one run and Gene Cone doubled home another.
The 9-2 lead seemed insurmountable, but after J.B. Woodman led off the Ole Miss ninth with a single, Webb gave way to reliever Reed Scott.
The Rebels refused to go quietly on a chilly night in Oxford as they pushed across three runs before Josh Reagan came in and shut the door with two outs to end the game.
"We got some big hits there in the ninth and that helped us," Holbrook said. "We executed some stuff there. Those three runs in the ninth loomed large, because we'd a had to really hold on for dear life if we hadn't had a good ninth."
The Gamecocks will go for their second straight SEC sweep in Game 3 of the series Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
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