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Notes + Quotes: USC-Coastal Carolina

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Notes and quotes from Tuesday night's USC-Coastal Carolina game. The Gamecocks won 4-2.

NOTES

| Starting pitcher Taylor Widener was dealing Tuesday, retiring 10 straight batters at one point against a Coastal Carolina team ranked 29th in batting average nationally. Much of Widener’s success can be attributed to his control. Only three of the 10 batters faced during the streak reached two ball counts. Widener brought a 1.44 WHIP into Tuesday’s contest, but allowed only two hits and a walk in five-plus innings of work against the Chanticleers.

Coastal Carolina’s first run came on a throwing error by shortstop Marcus Mooney. It was his team-leading sixth error of the season. Mooney did make a tremendous off-balance catch on a shallow pop up in the second inning.

Sophomore Madison Stokes made his first start of the season, going 1-4 with a single, his first hit of the year. A right foot injury kept him out of the lineup for the first seven weeks of the season.

Third baseman Jonah Bride made two fantastic defensive plays Tuesday, one on a weak grounder and the other on a hard bouncer down the line. He is one of three Gamecocks to start all 30 games this season and has committed just one error thus far.

Second baseman D.C. Arendas continued his recent success at the plate, going 2-3. In his last two games, Arendas is 4-7 with two RBIs and a home run.

Centerfielder Gene Cone extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a seventh inning single. Arendas (4), Mooney (3) and Dom Thompson-Williams (2) also extended their hitting streaks.

Gamecock pitchers held third baseman Zach Remillard hitless in four plate appearances. Coming into Tuesday’s game, the senior led the Chanticleers with 10 doubles, eight homers and an astounding .713 slugging percentage. Remillard struck out twice with runners in scoring position.

Josh Reagan picked up his eighth save of the year, allowing just a walk in two innings. He struck out two, giving him 24 on the year, tied for most among the team’s relief pitchers.

QUOTES

“I had command of my fastball and I also threw some first-pitch curve balls to get ahead of batters. I threw some good sliders and some decent change-ups I felt like I had everything working for me tonight.” — Taylor Widener on his performance

“It was kind of humbling to finally be in there. I put a lot of work in to get back and finally to be back feels good. I tried to stay within myself and try to prepare myself for those at-bats.” — Madison Stokes on how it felt to return to the lineup

“That’s a big boost to our pitching staff from a depth standpoint to have Taylor (Widener) throwing well.” — Head coach Chad Holbrook on Taylor Widener

“I thought it would be an important game for a lot of different reasons … It was good to get a win.” — Holbrook on the win

“We made a couple big pitches when we had to. We didn’t play a perfect game by any stretch but we did enough to beat a really quality team that I think is going to be a good feather in our cap from a resume standpoint on down the road.” — Holbrook on the importance of the win

“I was really happy and pleased with the way he swung it.” — Holbrook on Madison Stokes’ performance

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