Gamecocks stay red hot at the plate, beat Arkansas in SEC opener

Even highly-touted SEC pitchers are unsafe from South Carolina’s scorching hot bats.

Reaching double digits in runs for the third straight game, the Gamecocks hammered Arkansas starter Dominic Taccolini for eight early runs and cruised to a 10-6 victory over the Razorbacks Friday night in front of 7,511 fans at Founders Park for their eighth straight victory.

Coming into the game, Taccolini had allowed just 12 hits and six runs in four starts totaling 25.0 innings this season. But the Gamecocks touched him up for five runs in the first inning and three more runs in the second for an 8-0 lead.

Yet, Chad Holbrook admitted he never felt secure knowing Arkansas was capable of a big comeback.

“I didn’t feel comfortable at all the whole game even though we were up 8-0,” Holbrook said. “Those guys over there never quit and they have got a great offensive approach. They put pressure on us all night. We were able to hold on.”

Four straight singles by the Gamecocks greeted Taccolini in the bottom of the first. The fourth single by Alex Destino came with the bases loaded and scored two runs. Chris Cullen’s sacrifice fly and DC Arendas’ 2-run double (Arkansas RF almost made a great running catch but couldn’t hang on to the ball) stunned Taccolini and gave the Gamecocks a surprising 5-0 lead.

The onslaught against Taccolini continued in the bottom of the second when the Gamecocks added three more runs on consecutive singles, a two-run triple by Dom Thompson-Williams and a two-out RBI double by Chris Cullen to deep left-center.

“Against a guy that good with a lot of movement on his fastball, we got some good swings on him before he settled in,” Holbrook said. “When he settled in, you can see how tough he was. He is a very good pitcher that uses location, movement, sinkers. You have to use the other side of the field and up the middle. We just came out of the gates really hot. We were excited about playing. Those first two innings were enough.”

By the time the second inning ended, the Gamecocks had nine hits off Taccolini. Ultimately, he allowed eight runs and 12 hits in 6.0 innings.

USC has 51 hits in the last three games.

The top five hitters in USC’s batting order (Cone, Tolbert, Jones, Destino, Thompson-Williams) combined for 13 hits, nine runs scored and five RBI. Holbrook seems to have settled on an order he likes.

“Obviously, we swung the bats very well,” Holbrook said. “When you get 16 hits and double digit runs, you like your chances to win. There were pretty good hitting conditions tonight. The wind was blowing out and the ball was carrying well.

“I’m getting comfortable with Gene (Cone) and L.T. (Tolbert) leading us off because they give you a good at-bat. They battle and compete. And the middle of our lineup can do some damage. I like the flow of our lineup right.”

Clarke Schmidt’s 26-inning scoreless streak was halted in the top of the third when Arkansas’ No. 9 hitter, Tucker Pennell, homered into the lower stands in left field. Schmidt fanned six of the next 11 Arkansas batters to maintain the 8-1 lead.

Defensively, the Gamecocks have committed just three errors during the current eight-game winning streak.

“Our team has played some pretty clean baseball,” Holbrook said. “We’re going to have some bumps along the way because our opponents are awfully good. But I like the way we’re competing and our want-to and our cohesiveness and togetherness in the locker room.”

DC Arendas lofted his first homer of the season over the left field wall for a solo homer in the bottom of the 7th to give the Gamecocks a 9-2 lead.

Arendas finished the night with two hits and three RBI. DEstino, DTW and Chris Cullen had two RBI each.

One inning after throwing his 100th pitch with two outs in the top of the seventh, Schmidt departed after surrendering consecutive singles to open the top of the eighth.

Schmidt finished with 11 strikeouts (USC pitchers combined for 13 K) and one walk while allowing nine hits and four runs in 7.0 innings. Schmidt lasted 7.0 innings or more for the fourth straight start.

“Clarke gave us a great outing. Gutsy,” Holbrook said. “He gave up a few hits and made a couple of mistakes, but seven innings, 11 punchouts and one walk, I’ll take that in SEC play on Friday night. He gave us a chance to win. He was great again.

“I know he’s probably not happy with four earned runs, but he was special in my eyes. He has been very consistent. He got us off to a good start. When you strikeout Arkansas 11 times and only walk them once, he was terrific. He had great velocity on his fastball.”

Schmidt has 29 strikeouts and one walk in his last 22.1 innings pitched.

Brandon Murray replaced him on the mound but proved ineffective as he allowed a two-run single and two-run homer, shaving USC’s lead to 9-6, before being lifted in favor of Reed Scott.

Scott settled things down by striking out the first batter he faced and then ending the four-run Arkansas uprising with a groundout.

The Gamecocks responded with a single tally in the bottom of the eighth as Dom Thompson-Williams stroked a RBI single to right, scoring Gene Cone. He started the inning with a single.

Josh Reagan replaced Scott after a one-out single in the top of the ninth and recorded the final two outs to extend his scoreless stretch this season to 14.1 innings.

"I'm very comfortable with him with the game on the line," Holbrook said. "I felt like the game was in the balance (in the ninth) with the way the ball was traveling and how Arkansas was swinging the bats. I didn't feel like it was a four-run lead. So we had to go to our guy at that point."

LINESCORE

ARK (15-4) – 001 001 040 = 6-12-10

USC (18-2) – 530 000 11x = 10-16-0

WP – Clarke Schmidt (5-0)

LP – Dominic Taccolini (3-1)

SV – None

HR – USC, DC Arendas (7th, 2 outs, none on); Arkansas, Tucker Pennell (3rd, 1 out, none on), Luke Bonfield (8th, 1 out, 1 on)

RBI – Arendas (3), Destino (2), Thompson-Williams (2), Cullen (2), Jones (1).

LOB – USC 8, Arkansas 7.

A – 7,511

Time: 2:48

Gamecock Pitchers: Clarke Schmidt (7.0), Brandon Murray (0.1), Reed Scott (1.0), Josh Reagan (0.2)

HOW THE RUNS SCORED:

USC 1st – Cone singled to center, Tolbert singled to right, Jones singled to right, Destino singled to center (2 RBI), Thompson-Williams hit by pitch, Bride struckout, Cullen hit sacrifice fly to right (RBI), Arendas doubled to right (2 RBI), Mooney hit by pitch, Coned flied to left. FIVE RUNS, FIVE HITS (USC 5-0).

USC 2nd – Tolbert grounded to first, Jones singled to right, Destino singled to left, Thompson-Williams tripled to right-center (2 RBI), Bride grounded to third, Cullen doubled to left (RBI), Arendas flied to center. THREE RUNS, FOUR HITS (USC 8-0).

ARK 3rd – Bernal struckout, Pennell homered to left, Arledge struckout, Cole walked, Eagan singled, Gassaway struckout. ONE RUN, TWO HITS (USC 8-1).

ARK 6th – Simms lined to left, Nomura doubled to right, Shaddy singled to center (RBI), Bonfield struckout, Bernal fouled out to first. ONE RUN, TWO HITS (USC 8-2).

USC 7th – Bride flied to center, Cullen grounded to third, Arendas homered to left (RBI), Mooney lined to short. ONE RUN, ONE HIT (USC 9-2).

ARK 8th – Eagan singled to left, Simms singled to left-center, <Murray for Schmidt>, Nomura grounded to short, Shaddy singled to center (2 RBI), Bonfield homered to left (2 RBI), <Scott For Murray>, Bernal struck out, Pennell grounded to third. FOUR RUNS, FOUR HITS (USC 9-6).

USC 8th - Cone singled to right-center, Tolbert singled to center, Jones singled to center (RBI) and Tolbert thrown out at third, Scolamiero walked, DTW reached on fielder's choice (4-6), DTW advanced to second on wild pitch, Bride struck out. ONE RUN, THREE HITS (USC 10-6).