Notes and Quotes: Tennessee Game 3
--Hunter Taylor started at catcher for just the second time this season. His last start came on March 9 against Furman.
--The Gamecocks are now 3-1 in one-run games, 15-3 in day games and 6-4 when the opponent scores first. It also pushes their home record to 22-1.
--Gene Cone singled to start the game, which extends his hitting streak to 19 games.
--Announced attendance for Sunday’s game was 7,314.
--Alex Destino hit a go-ahead, RBI single in eighth in his first at-bat since being injured during the Vanderbilt series. The hit extended his hitting streak to 21 games. He said it’s “extremely realistic” he plays against North Carolina on Tuesday saying, “I can’t wait to play that team.”
--Josh Reagan earned his tenth save of the season Sunday. He becomes the fourth Gamecock in five years to reach double-digit saves in a season joining Tyler Webb, Joel Seddon and Matt Price who did it twice.
--South Carolina starts 10-2 through four SEC series, tying the best start to SEC play since 2011 when the team also started 10-2.
--Jonah Bride was the Gamecocks’ best hitter this weekend, hitting 5-for-10 with an RBI.
--Adam Hill started his third SEC game and gave up career-high five hits. He also struck out a career-low one batter. He was credited with a no decision.
--Tyler Johnson picked up his first win of the season. He went two innings, gave up two hits and didn’t allow a run. The Gamecock pitchers struck out a season-low two batters Sunday.
Quotes
Holbrook on Josh Reagan pitching to Nick Senzel in the ninth: “For Reagan to have the courage to throw a 3-2 changeup with nobody out, bases loaded to the best hitter in the country—I can coach a long time, guys and I’ll never have a guy be able to do that. Maybe Michael Roth could do it. I’m at a loss for words for the courage to do that.”
Holbrook on his team’s character: “I’ve coached going on 20-something years now. I got a lot of character in the locker room. Not just here, I’m talking about when they’re not here. Up to this point, I don’t want to jinx them, boy they’ve handled their business. They ‘re responsible and they conduct themselves in a first-class manner and represented the program the right way. And ultimately I think that helps them win games.”
Holbrook on the atmosphere Sunday: “I think we’ve made a lot of people happy, but then again we’ve played 33 games. But it’s not as loud as I want it to be. It’s not the atompshere I want in this stadium yet.”
Josh Reagan on allowing two infield singles on bunts: “I get more mad at myself when I walk somebody than when I give up hits. And those were good bunt. The first one was tough. I had to bare hand that ball and even if I field it I have to make a good play and turn around to throw it. Those were good bunts. You have to tip your hat to them.”
Alex Destino on pinch-hitting in the eighth: “I haven’t really said anything, I’ve just been bugging him by standing around him a lot when that came down to the high-intensity part of the game. He asked me to hit and I heard him behind me saying, ‘When Alex gets this hit…’ which gives me confidence in yourself…I came through with a hit and I couldn’t be more excited for us as a team.”
Alex Destino on Josh Reagan: “We’re all kind of in awe about it. He got out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs. You rarely ever see that. And the fact the hitters he did it against will kind of go unnoticed. He did it against Nick Senzel who’s arguably the best hitter in college baseball.”
Marcus Mooney on batting at the bottom of the order: “It is comfy down there. The one, two, nine hole that’s mainly where I see myself. I see a lot of pitches, I make contact with the ball. So those are the spots for me. I do not care what spot I’m in.”