Homers by Destino, DTW carry Gamecocks past CSU as USC clinches series
Chad Holbrook has spoken of his high confidence level in Alex Destino on many occasions in the past, even when the sophomore was struggling at the plate or in the field.
Saturday, that conviction manifested itself yet again.
Holbrook gave Destino the green light on a 3-0 count in the bottom of the first and the Weaverville, N.C. responded by launching a two-run homer to right, handing the Gamecocks an early lead and they later blunted a Charleston Southern rally in the late innings for a 5-4 victory Saturday in front of 7,412 fans at Founders Park.
“We were lucky to hold on,” Holbrook said Saturday. “We made some mistakes and every mistake we made, Charleston Southern capitalized on it. It got to a tight game. That being said, our team found a way to win.”
The Gamecocks improved to 14-2 overall. USC will try for the series sweep Sunday at 1:30 p.m. when freshman Adam Hill is scheduled to make his weekend debut for the Gamecocks.
Destino (2-for-3, 3 RBI) and Dom Thompson-Williams (4 RBI on Friday night) again ignited the Gamecock offense from the middle of the lineup, combining for four hits, five RBI and three runs scored on Saturday.
“I love to give our guys the freedom to swing 3-0,” Holbrook said Saturday when asked about giving Destino the green light on 3-0. “Sometimes, that’s the best pitch you will get. If they throw one in there, I want my big guys to swing it more times than not. I have the utmost confidence in (Destino).
“If he swings at strikes he will do some damage because he is so strong. He has good hand-eye coordination. He puts the ball in play. He’s not a guy that just wails away and strikes out all the time. His strikeout numbers are pretty low for a power guy. I love to turn guys loose and let them attack the baseball regardless of the count.”
Destino said the freedom to swing on a 3-0 pitch means “hit the ball extremely hard foul or hit a home run.”
“I was fortunate enough to get a good barrel on the ball and hit it out,” Destino said. “It was a good pick-me-up, especially for the first inning.”
Thompson-Williams followed Destin’s first-inning blast with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth after Destino had led off with a walk.
“Those two home runs proved to be the difference,” Holbrook said.
In the first two games of the series, the duo has battered Charleston Southern pitching for seven hits, three homers, nine RBI and six runs scored.
“We’re like two kids out there playing little league ball,” Destino said. “We love it and we enjoy it. We have a good time staying relaxed in the outfield. I think that calm composure is helping us both on the field right now.”
The Gamecocks took a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth when Destino added a one-out RBI single to his daily tally, scoring Jonah Bride, who had alertly reached second on a throwing error.
Gamecock starter Braden Webb (0 runs, 3 hits, 4 K, 2 BB, 87 pitches) worked the first 5.2 innings to gain credit for the victory, retiring six straight CSU batters until issuing a walk with two outs in the top of the sixth. Left-hander Vince Fiori came on and struckout the first batter he faced to end the inning.
From that point, the Gamecocks bullpen faltered a bit.
Charleston Southern scored its first run of the series in the top of the seventh on a RBI groundout after Fiori had yielded a single and double to the first two CSUI batters in the inning.
Reed Scott replaced Fiori and he got all three outs in the seventh and the first outs in the eighth on a pair of flyouts. But the Buccaneers flashed some two-out lightning, beginning with a triple that brought Brandon Murray to the mound.
Murray promptly gave up a RBI single on an 0-2 pitch for CSU’s second run of the game. Murray was lifted after he plunked the next CSU batter on another 0-2 pitch.
“Our guys made some not so good 0-2 pitches,” Holbrook said. “We worked ahead of some guys and got into some favorable counts, but made some bad pitches. We threw some 0-2 pitches right down the middle. Right now, we’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to use our bullpen. They have bene very good up to this point. Luckily, we have some depth.”
With the tying run at the plate, Josh Reagan took the hill for the Gamecocks looking for a four-out save. Both CSU runners moved up a base on a passed ball and subsequently scored on a RBI single, shaving USC’s lead to 5-4.
CSU threatened in the top of the ninth when the leadoff batter singled to right-center off Reagan. That’s when third baseman Jonah Bride made one of the best defensive plays of the young season.
When Charleston Southern laid down a potential sacrifice bunt, Bride nullified the strategy by cleanly fielding the ball, quickly whirling and firing a bullet to second base to force out the CSU runner. It was one of multiple outstanding defensive plays made by Bride during the game.
“It took some savvy and confidence and guts to make that throw,” Holbrook said. “That play, throwing the ball to second base, is the game. If he throws that wide and it’s first and second with nobody out, we might not win.
“That play enabled us to win the game. We had the bunt defense on to throw to first to get the out, but he crashed real hard and he felt he had time to make a play. It was a big time play.”
A groundout to short moved the tying run into scoring position with two outs before the final out of the game went appropriately to Bride, whose fifth assist of the game gave USC the hard-fought victory.
“He is a coach’s dream by the way he works,” Holbrook said of Bride. “He’s a winner. He has guts. I knew he was good defensively, but he has proven to be better than good. He wants the ball hit to him.”
LINESCORE
CSU 000 000 130 = 4-9-1
USC 200 210 00x = 5-9-0
WP – Braden Webb (3-1)
LP – Daniel Johnson (2-2)
SV – Josh Reagan (5)
HR – USC, Alex Destino (1st, 1 on, two outs), Dom Thompson-Williams (4th, 1 on, no outs),
LOB – CSU 7, USC 6.
A – 7,412
Time: 2:34
HOW THE RUNS SCORED:
USC 1st – Mooney flied to right, Bride struckout, Jones singled to right, Destino homered to right-center (2 RBI), Thompson-Williams singled to third, Cullen flied to center. TWO RUNS, THREE HITS (USC 2-0).
USC 4th – Destino walked, Thompson-Williams homered to right (2 RBI), Cullen walked, Tolbert flied to left, Hopkins singled to left, Arendas walked, Mooney grounded into double play (6-4-3). TWO RUNS, TWO HITS (USC 4-0).
USC 5th – Bride reached second on throwing error (E6), Jones flied to center, Destino singled to left (RBI), DTW struckout, Destino caught stealing. ONE RUN, ONE HIT (USC 5-0).
CSU 7th – Singleton singled to left, McClellan doubled to left, <SCOTT FOR FIORI>, Hickey grounded to short (RBI), Maksim lined to short, Sconzop grounded to short. ONE RUN, TWO HITS (USC 5-1).
CSU 8th – Blanchard flied to center, Gragilla (PH) flied to center, Edwards tripled to left-center, <MURRAY FOR SCOTT>, Dye singled to right (RBI), Singleton hit by pitch, <REAGAN FOR MURRAY>, Singleton advanced to second and Dye advanced to third on passed ball, McClellan singled to right-center (2 RBI), Hickey grounded to pitcher. THREE RUNS, THREE HITS (USC 5-4).
