Pitching, defense shines in Gamecocks' 4-2 win
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After seeing him taken off the weekend earlier this season, Gamecock junior righty Taylor Widener really hadn’t settled into his role at all this season.
That changed Tuesday night as he put together his best outing of the season giving up two hits and one earned run in a season-high five-plus innings.
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He struck out five through the first two innings as he mowed down the Chanticleers and was lights out through the first four innings before giving up runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
The junior righty said Tuesday was the best he’s felt all season after a lingering back injury “flared up” a few weeks ago.
“I definitely felt more comfortable than I have this whole year. I had better fastball command than I’ve had,” he said. “I guess that just set the tone for me to pitch better than I had.”
Behind a quick three up, three down inning from Widener in the first inning, the Gamecocks (25-5, 7-2 SEC) pounced on starting pitcher Zack Hopeck, scoring two quick runs.
Dom Thompson Williams hit an RBI double to score LT Tolbert and Jonah Bride grounded out to first scoring John Jones.
The lead was never relinquished after the first inning.
“Coach talked to us, he pulled us together before the game and said this will have a big outcome in what we do later in the season,” Thompson-Williams said. “To come out there and get a couple runs on the board makes you feel secure.”
South Carolina would extend their lead to three runs in the fourth after a TJ Hopkins sacrifice fly, but that’s when Coastal mounted its mini comeback.
The Chanticleers would score in back-to-back innings to cut the lead to 3-2. A Marcus Mooney throwing error sent a runner home and a Connor Owings RBI single plated another.
Then in the seventh inning, all hopes of a comeback were dashed as Coastal’s Austin Kitchen threw a wild pitch to score Mooney.
And with hits not coming in any sort of rhythm Tuesday, a two-run lead was virtually insurmountable.
The Gamecocks couldn’t get into any groove offensively, but dominant pitching from Widener and the bullpen secured the victory. Twice would Coastal have runners in scoring positions late in the game and both times no runners would cross the plate.
Josh Reagan, who passed a kidney stone Monday and still had one to pass, came in and recorded the final six outs of the game while not allowing a hit. It’s his SEC-leading eighth save of the year.
“Our pitching staff was terrific and they got a few big outs there when I guess they had the winning run in scoring position,” head coach Chad Holbrook said. “We got out of that. 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 quality team.”
Since staring SEC play, ten of South Carolina’s eleven games have been decided by four runs or less and they are playing games by an average margin of 3.5 runs.
And with games against Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia next, it doesn’t look like the close games are going to subside. The Tennessee series starts Friday with first pitch slated for 7 p.m.
“All the teams in our league and the teams that have been our schedule of late are just so evenly matched, so games are going to be close. You have to win with defense, some really good pitching,” head coach Chad Holbrook said. “You have to have some winning intangibles that make a difference if you have a good year or a bad year. Hopefully we’re finding out we got some pretty good intangibles on our team, in our locker room. And hopefully we continue to build off that.”
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