South Carolina clinches series after unconventional outing
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After holding off a Tennessee comeback in Game 1 Friday, South Carolina had to pull out almost every trick in the baseball book to secure a win in a topsy-turvy game Saturday.
They did and it resulted in a series-clinching, 7-4 victory over Tennessee at Founders Park.
“It was another game that could have gone either way. There after the first two innings it was kind of nip-and-tuck,” head coach Chad Holbrook said. “It was obviously a big win; all of them are in this league.”
After falling behind in the first inning on a RBI single, the No. 6Gamecocks (27-5, 9-2 SEC) scored four runs in the bottom half of the inning behind a fielding error, a walk and three straight hits from Jonah Bride, Chris Cullen and TJ Hopkins.
Tennessee would score three unanswered runs to tie the game at 4-4, however.
The Gamecocks wouldn’t score again until the sixth inning when Marcus Mooney hit a go-ahead infield RBI single that didn’t sniff the outfield grass to score Cullen and push the score to 5-4 in favor of the home team.
Mooney then assisted in getting Hopkins home when he was caught in a rundown, allowing Hopkins to glide home.
“I noticed TJ on third and I knew I could play with it a little bit,” Mooney said. “I was reading a ball in the dirt, I read it and really trying to get in a rundown there so I can get TJ home because he can flat out run.”
The lead would never be relinquished after the sixth inning and the Gamecocks would get an insurance run after LT Tolbert was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth.
Only two of the seven runs scored Saturday were earned.
“Offensively we have a lot of tools: we can bunt guys over, steal, just put the ball in play and make it hard on the defense. I think we did that,” Mooney said.
South Carolina saw big contributions from unconventional places like Hopkins, who finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Mooney, who had two hits and an RBI.
Their performances came with the heart of the order (John Jones, Thompson-Williams and Bride) going an uncharacteristically average 3-for-12 and one of the team’s biggest sluggers in Alex Destino out of the lineup.
Cullen also had a big day going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs scored and a walk. The team drew four walks and three of the four times the runner would eventually come around to score.
“We battled at the plate; we were scrappy. We forced the defense to make plays against us. They made a couple errors that gave us a little bit of life,” Holbrook said. “We got a scrappy bunch and we’re going to have to be a scrappy bunch with Jones scuffling and Destino not in the lineup. We’re going to have to get creative with how we score.”
Meanwhile, it was an unconventional start for Braden Webb, who had been lights out in SEC play.
Webb, who had won his last three starts while only allowing a combined five runs on nine hits, allowed a career-high seven hits Saturday and tied a career-high for runs allowed in a game with four.
After giving up three of the four runs in the first two innings, the freshman righty seemed to settle down after that. He only gave up three hits and one run after the second inning.
He would finish by piecing together a solid outing, going 7.1 innings while striking out 10 batters. It’s his third straight start with double-digit strikeouts.
“I definitely felt stronger as the game went on,” Webb said. “I’ve been feeling that way with my last couple outings. I feel like the more I go out there, the more I see the hitters, the better I can make myself be.”
South Carolina clinches the series with Saturday’s win, solidifying their third SEC series win of the year in four tries.
They will look for a sweep and their 10th SEC win Sunday when they play at 1:30 p.m. at Founder Park. Adam Hill (5-0, 2.51 ERA) takes the mound for the Gamecocks.
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