Notes & Quotes: Arkansas Game 1

Notes

--After a two-RBI single in the first inning, Alex Destino extends his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest streak of his career. He’s batting .370 after Friday’s win.

--Other hitting streaks that continued Friday: Dom Thompson-Williams (9), LT Tolbert and Gene Cone (6), DC Arendas (3) and Chris Cullen (2).

--DTW on-base streak continued against the Razorbacks after being hit by a pitch in the first. He’s reached base in all 20 games this season.

--Clarke Schmidt’s 26-inning scoreless streak ended in the third inning when he gave up a solo home run to Tucker Pennell.

--South Carolina opens SEC play with a win for only the fifth time in the last 10 seasons and the second time under head coach Chad Holbrook. It’s their seventh home SEC win in the last 10 seasons.

--After their win, six Gamecocks—Gene Cone, John Jones, Alex Destino, Dom Thompson-Williams, Chris Cullen and Marcus Mooney—are all batting .300 or better.

--Announced attendance Friday was 7,511.

--Jonah Bride went 0-for-5, ending his hitting streak of two games. He was in the batting cage at 10:50 p.m., after the game ended, getting extra swings.

--DC Arendas hit his first home run of the season and eighth of his career after a solo homer to left field in the seventh inning.

--Two players (Thompson-Williams and Mooney) were hit by pitches Friday. The Gamecocks have been hit by pitches 24 times this season, which leads the SEC.

--South Carolina tallied 16 hits and it’s the third straight game, and fourth in the last six, they’ve had double-digit hit totals.

--Gene Cone and LT Tolbert hit No.1 and No. 2 for the third straight game. Chad Holbrook said he feels very comfortable with those two leading off.

--Mooney hit at the bottom of the order for the fourth straight game and the sixth time in seven games. He went 0-for-3, ending his two-game hitting streak.

--Thompson-Williams stole his tenth base of the season, a team high. Josh Reagan also extended the team-high for appearances with his ninth of the season and Clarke Schmidt still holds the team high for innings pitched and strikeouts with 35.1 and 43.

--Players with multi-hit games (career multi-hit games in parenthesis): DC Arendas (23), Alex Destino (18), Gene Cone (21), John Jones (10), Thompson-Williams (11), LT Tolbert (6).

--South Carolina has 51 hits over their last three games and they’re averaging roughly 1.9 hits per inning.

Quotes

Clarke Schmidt on coming back in the eighth after throwing 100 pitches: “I was coming after five or eight pitches regardless of if I gave up a hit or not. I think he just want to put me back out there to see what I could do and if I got ground ball outs, quick outs, I’d be good.”

Clarke Schmidt on his brother pitching on the same night: “I think it was a first for them, so my mom and nana came here and my dad went up to Clemson. I heard he had a good night, so I’m happy for him too.”

Destino on his confidence: “I feel great in the box. I feel extremely confident, calm. I would kind of be too aggressive last year. I mean I feel great. I’m enjoying seeing my teammates hit the ball; I feel confident in the dugout. That translates to extremely good vibes in the dugout and that’s key coming into big SEC games against great pitching.”

Destino on transitioning to left field: “I played outfield my whole life, so it’s kind of like riding a bike. That’s how I put it. It’s getting used to it again, getting back out there, getting the repetitions and those fly balls. I feel good; I feel confident.”

Holbrook on Josh Reagan: “I’m very comfortable with him with the game on the line. I felt like the game was in the balance there; the way the ball was traveling and the way Arkansas was swinging the bat, I didn’t feel like it was a four-run lead. We need to go to our guy at that point.”

Holbrook on the fans perception of the team: “I don’t worry about what the fans think; I’m just trying to play our best game. I can’t worry about what who thinks what about us. We’re just trying to win our next game. We appreciate those people in the stands helping us and it was a nice crowd on Friday night with a lot of things going on in the city…It was nice to have a nice crowd. Friday nights in the SEC are pretty neat to be a part of.”