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Webb dominates 'Dores in Nashville as Gamecocks square series

Braden Webb made his seventh start of the season on Friday night
Braden Webb made his seventh start of the season on Friday night (Gamecock Central)

South Carolina-Vanderbilt Game 2 Box Score

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NASHVILLE -- Chad Holbrook believes 6-foot-4 sophomore righthander Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt’s starting pitcher Friday night, could be the No. 1 pick in the 2017 Major League Draft.

Considering how he has pitched in his last two outings, South Carolina freshman Braden Webb could earn that distinction as well - or something close to it – when he eventually declares for the MLB Draft.

For the second straight weekend, Webb was masterful on the road, limiting a good-hitting Vanderbilt lineup to no runs and just two hits as the Gamecocks evened the series at one game apiece with a solid 4-0 victory Friday night in front of 3,626 fans at Hawkins Field.

USC improved to 24-4 overall, 7-1 in the SEC, happily reaching the halfway point of the regular season schedule.

Seven days after striking out 14 Ole Miss batters in Oxford, Webb fanned 11 Commodore hitters and walked just three in 8.0 innings as he improved his record to 6-1.

In his last 15 innings against two upper echelon SEC teams, Webb has allowed just one run, a meaningless tally by Ole Miss in the bottom of the ninth at Oxford last weekend.

“He was big-league good,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said. “It’s two starts in a row where he has been really special from a fastball standpoint to location to changeup to breaking ball. He has had it all going. You have to do that to put up numbers like that against a team like (Vanderbilt). He handled himself way beyond his years. It was neat to watch. I don’t know if he can be much better, but he thinks he can. I like that in him.”

Josh Reagan pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to assure a rubber game Saturday between the two long-time SEC powers that have captured three of the last six national championships.

Webb didn’t allow a hit until two outs in the bottom of the sixth. At that point, he had faced the minimum 17 Vanderbilt batters. He also gave up a two-out single in the seventh.

“He wasn’t fazed by anything tonight with a great environment and two great teams and he kept his cool and composure,” Holbrook said. “That was just as impressive to me as his stuff, and his stuff was off the charts. He is growing up right before our eyes.”

Webb, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week and National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball, never faced more than four Vanderbilt batters in any of his eight innings of work.

“I felt there were some spurts where it was a really great outing, but I still have a lot of stuff to work on,” said Webb, whose biting 12-6 curveball mesmerized Vanderbilt hitters all night long. “They are a great hitting team and I was able to locate some pitches in some good counts. It was a great outing, but I need to keep learning and working and move on from it.”

The Gamecocks got all the offense they would need in the top of the third when John Jones lined a sacrifice fly to center and Alex Destino singled through the middle (extending his hitting streak to 20 games) for another run to give the Gamecocks a 2-0 lead off Wright, who retired the next 12 Gamecocks batters until issuing a walk to DC Arendas in the top of the seventh.

“It’s hard to score off Wright,” Holbrook said. “We’re 14 months away from Wright probably being the first pick in the draft. Those two runs got us off to a good start. I didn’t think two runs would be enough. It ended up being enough, but I was a lot more comfortable being up four in the ninth than just two considering how explosive they have been offensively.”

That would be all the scoring until the top of the ninth when LT Tolbert’s sinking liner skipped past Vanderbilt right-fielder Jeren Kendall for a two-run triple, handing the Gamecocks two key insurance runs.

Tolbert had been hitless in his previous 19 at-bats and his batting average had fallen to .243 (25-for-103) before the triple.

“Insurance runs are always big,” Tolbert said. “It made us feel more comfortable in the field and made us relax. It was huge in the moment and huge for me to get back on track (at the plate). I’ve hit some balls hard lately, but they haven’t fallen for me. To see one finally drop and get a chance to run was a lot of fun. Hopefully, that will get me going moving forward.”

Until that play, Holbrook thought about giving Webb the opportunity to start the ninth. But as soon as USC claimed a 4-run lead, he made the call to Reagan, who has now allowed just one run and 10 hits in 23.0 innings pitched this season.

Besides his RBI single in the third, Destino figured into another key play. The Gamecocks held their collective breaths in the bottom of the fifth when Destino made an incredible catch while crashing into the left field wall.

The sophomore slammed his shoulder and head into the wall simultaneously with reaching out and grabbing the ball in his glove. He fell to the turf and laid there for several minutes. Eventually, he was escorted off the field by Gamecock medical staff.

“I was dead sprinting backwards and the field being turf, there wasn’t much of a warning track,” Destino said. “I caught the ball and looked up and there was a big sheet of metal was right there. Luckily, I was able to get my head out of the way and take the brunt of the force with my body.”

Clark Scolamiero pinch-hit for Destino and took over in center field with Dom Thompson-Williams moving to left.

Destino is listed as questionable for Saturday’s rubber game.

“I feel fine, but a little sore,” Destino said. “We’ll see how I wake up tomorrow. A few doctors will come look at me and tell me what I think.”

After the game, Holbrook appeared to be leaning towards giving Destino the day off as a precautionary measure.

“He’ll probably be real sore (Saturday) and I’ll doubt we’ll have him, but he made a real big play for us tonight,” Holbrook said.

LINESCORE

USC (24-4) – 002 000 002 = 4-8-0

VAN (22-5) – 000 000 000 = 0-2-1

WP – Braden Webb (6-1)

LP – Kyle Wright (4-1)

SV – None

HR – None

RBI – LT Tolbert (2), John Jones (1), Alex Destino (1).

LOB – USC 9, Vanderbilt 3

A – 3,626

Time: 2:45

Gamecock Pitchers: Braden Webb (8.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 11 K, 3 BB); Josh Reagan (1.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 K, 0 BB)

HOW THE RUNS SCORED:

USC 3rd – Mooney singled to pitcher, Cone singled to first, Tolbert hit by pitch, Jones lined sacrifice fly to center (RBI), Destino singled to center(RBI), Thompson-Williams struckout, Bride struckout. TWO RUNS, THREE HITS (USC 2-0).

USC 9th – Arendas singled to center, Mooney sacrificed (U-3), Cone reached on throwing error (E4), Tolbert tripled to right (2 RBI), Jones grounded to short, Scolamiero grounded to third. TWO RUNS, TWO HITS (USC 4-0).


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