Murray, Reagan slam the door in Chucktown as Gamecocks stay unbeaten
CHARLESTON -- In South Carolina’s hour of need in the Lowcountry, relievers Brandon Murray and Josh Reagan stepped up for the Gamecocks.
As a result, the Gamecocks (9-0) returned to Columbia with their unbeaten record intact by virtue of a 6-3 victory over The Citadel Tuesday night in front of a capacity crowd of 6,298 at Joe Riley Park.
Murray and Reagan combined to set down the final 11 Citadel batters in a row after the Bulldogs had pulled within two runs (5-3) of USC with a bases-clearing double off the left field wall in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Murray recorded the final two outs in the sixth and all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings before handing the closer duties over to Reagan, who fanned the final two Citadel hitters for his third save of the season.
Combined statistics for Murray and Reagan: 3.2 IP, 0 runs, 0 hits, 4 strikeouts, 0 walks. 11 batters faced, 11 batters retired.
“Brandon was awesome and Reagan was terrific in the ninth inning,” Gamecock coach Chad Holbrook said. “I love giving the ball to (Reagan) because he is so confident in himself and he can throw three pitches for strikes at any time, any count. It’s a luxury to have him late in the game.”
Murray, Reagan and Reed Scott are emerging as USC’s go-to pitchers in key late game situations when the game is on the line, Holbrook said.
The two relievers combined for four strikeouts and just two balls left the infield. They mowed down the Citadel hitters after Gamecock starter Adam Hill, a freshman from Anderson, struck out eight Citadel batters in 5.0 innings to get credit for his second career win.
Hill, who has 19 strikeouts in 11.0 innings over two starts, faced the minimum nine batters in the first three innings before escaping a first-and-third situation in the bottom of the fourth. The Citadel had two cracks to get a runner home from third, but Hill denied them with a strikeout and popup.
“I thought he had a great fastball tonight,” Holbrook said. “He showed great composure when they threatened a little bit and had a runner on third with less than two outs. He bowed his neck and competed very hard in a tough environment.
“He has a bright future for sure. He has been very impressive in his first two outings. When we got those four runs in the third, that helped settle him down. It’s neat to see a freshman compete the way he competed. The sky is the limit for him if he keeps working hard.”
Hill is presently USC’s Tuesday night starting pitcher, Holbrook said, so his next two starts should come against Wofford March 8 and at USC Upstate on March 15. But how soon will we see him taking the mound on the weekend if he continues to impress?
“We’re going to throw our best pitchers on the weekend and if he is one of our best guys, we’ll look at it,” Holbrook said. “Right now, we feel good about where we are. Starting (Hill) on Tuesday is working out good for him and getting him acclimated to the college game. It’s good for his confidence. Right now, we’ll keep him there. We have a pretty good Tuesday guy, for sure.”
Four Gamecocks pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts and three walks. Six Citadel hurlers walked seven USC batters along with surrendering 15 hits.
Leaving the bases loaded twice, the Gamecocks stranded a season-high 16 runners, the sixth time in nine games they have left 10+ runners on base.
“We swung it pretty well and got our share of hits tonight, but we left a lot of guys out there,” Holbrook said. “We had some opportunities to tack on some runs and spread it out a little bit. But we couldn’t do it. Credit their pitchers. But we are swinging the bats well. We have some big, strong physical guys, and guys with some confidence right now.”
Hill exited with a 5-0 lead as a result of four Gamecock runs in the top of the third and a single tally in the top of the fifth.
The red hot John Jones started the four-run uprising with a one-out double to right. He scored on a single by Alex Destino, who scored on a double by freshman catcher Chris Cullen.
Cullen moved to third on a balk by The Citadel pitcher and scored on groundout in which the umpire ruled the Bulldogs shortstop failed to touch second base. Marcus Mooney delivered the final run of the inning with a RBI single.
Those four runs proved all USC would need to assure a perfect record when rival Clemson arrives in Columbia on Friday night for the first of three showdowns in three days.
With USC ahead 5-0, Holbrook gave the keys to sophomore reliever Tyler Johnson, who was roughed up by the Bulldogs in just one-third of an inning, allowing three hits and three runs in the bottom of the sixth, including the three-run double by Drew Ellis that fell a few feet short of being a grand slam.
In his last two outings, Johnson has allowed five runs on four hits in just 0.2 innings.
USC added an insurance run in the top of the seventh with two outs when Dom Thompson-Williams singled, stole second and scored on Jonah Bride’s RBI single.
After that, Murray and Reagan silenced The Citadel’s bats in the late innings – and the crowd along with it - and USC rode out of Charleston with the victory.
Thompson-Williams, batting leadoff for the third straight game, led USC’s 15-hit parade with three hits and one run scored. Four other players had two hits, including Jones (2-for-4, reached base four times in six plate appearances).
The ‘spread the wealth’ storyline is best seen in the RBI category. Six different Gamecocks drove in a run with nobody getting two.
HOW THE RUNS SCORED:
USC 3rd - Bride grounded to first, Jones doubled to right, Destino singled to right (RBI) and moved to second on throwing error (E9), Cullen doubled to left (RBI), Cullen advanced to 3B on balk, Cone walked, Arendas grounded to short (RBI)(Cone advanced to 2B), Mooney singled to right (RBI), Blair grounded to pitcher. FOUR RUNS, FOUR HITS (USC 4-0).
USC 5th – Cone flied to left, Arendas singled and advanced to second on a throwing error (E6), Mooney flied to center, Blair doubled down left field line (RBI), Thompson-Williams grounded to pitcher. ONE RUN, TWO HITS (USC 5-0).
CIT 6th – Smith struckout, Watcher doubled to left-center, Mapes singled behind second base, Windham walked, Ellis doubled to left (3 RBI), <MURRAY FOR JOHNSON>, Hansen struckout, Peden grounded to second. THREE RUNS, THREE HITS (USC 5-3).
USC 7th – Mooney walked, Blair struckout, Mooney picked off first (1-3), Thompson-Williams singled to right, Thompson-Williams stole second, Bride signed to right (RBI) and advanced to second on throw home, Jones intentionally walked, Destino flied to center. ONE RUN, TWO HITS (USC 6-3).
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