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baseball Edit

Recap: Gamecocks crush URI in second elimination game, face UNCW next

After staving off elimination with a victory over Duke Saturday afternoon, South Carolina returned bright and early to Founders Park on Sunday for a noon matchup against Rhode Island. The loser was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

FINAL: South Carolina 23, Rhode Island 2

LINESCORE

USC (44-16) – 212 184 401 = 23-22-0

URI (31-27) – 100 100 000 = 2-3-1

WP – Adam Hill (7-0)

LP – Ben Wessel (6-5)

SV – None

HR – USC, DC Arendas (3rd, 1 on), Alex Destino (5th, two on), Matt Williams (9th, none on); URI, Ryan Olmo (4th, none on)

RBI – TJ Hopkins (5), Alex Destino (3), Gene Cone (3), DC Arendas (3), Jonah Bride (2), LT Tolbert (2), Chris Cullen (1), Marcus Mooney (1).

LOB – USC 7, URI 5

A – 5,157

TIME – 3:50

Gamecock Pitchers: Adam Hill (7.0 IP, 123 pitches), Tyler Haswell (2.0 IP)

HIGHLIGHTS:

-- South Carolina won its second straight game in the Columbia Regional and now advances to face UNCW today at 6 p.m. The Gamecocks must beat the Seahawks to force a winner-take-all game Monday at 6 p.m.

-- Four Gamecocks had 3+ hits led by D.C. Arendas, who was 4-for-4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored after entering the game in the bottom of the first when 3B Jonah Bride was ejected for failing to slide into home plate. Eight URI hurlers helped USC's cause too by combining for 7 walks, 6 wild pitches, 2 HBP and 1 balk.

-- The first inning featured plenty of fireworks on both sides. The Gamecocks string together four straight singles and a pair of stolen bases with two outs to grab a 2-0 lead on Jonah Bride’s 2-RBI hit. Later, Bride was thrown out at the plate and was ejected from the game. His replacement: DC Arendas (More on him later).

-- URI got one run back in the bottom of the first off Gamecocks starter Adam Hill on a leadoff double, flyout and RBI groundout. But it took the Gamecocks just four batters in the top of the second to get that run back as Gene Cone continued his scorching hot hitting (.357 BA + 9-gm hitting streak) coming into the game by ripping a RBI single to right-center, scoring LT Tolbert.

-- Hill issued a pair of walks in the bottom of the second, but worked around them to hold the Rams scoreless. USC expanded its lead to 5-1 in the top of the third when Arendas lined a pitch into the USC bullpen for a two-run HR, his fourth of the season.

-- USC built a 6-1 lead in the top of the fourth on a walk, single and sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman TJ Hopkins.

-- After a URI leadoff solo homer in the fourth, the Gamecocks loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fifth on a walk, single and hit by pitch. Cullen stroked a sacrifice fly to left-center to give the Gamecocks a 7-2 lead.

-- But thanks in part to a meltdown by the URI pitching staff, the Gamecocks were just getting started in the inning. Eventually, the Gamecocks scored eight runs, seven with two outs. The inning featured a 2-runs ingle by Cone, a 3-run HR by Destino and RBI triple by Arendas. Totals for URI pitching staff in the inning: 5 wild pitches, 2 walks, 1 HBP and 1 balk. The eight runs were the most in a single inning by USC this season. When the inning finally ended, USC led 14-2.

-- The Gamecocks onslaught continued in the top of the sixth when Hopkins cleared the bases with a 3-run triple, his first 3-bagger of the season. The bases became loaded on two singles and walk. Hopkins scored on a passed ball to push USC’s lead to 18-2. The Gamecocks added 4 runs in the top of the seventh with Tolbert’s 2-run double being the key blow. Matt Williams had a pinch-hit homer in the ninth.

HOW THE RUNS SCORED:

USC 1st – Cone grounded to second, Hopkins grounded to pitcher, Destino singled to center, DTW singled to center, DTW stole second, Bride singled up the middle (2 RBI), Bride stole second, Stokes singled to shortstop, Bride advanced to third and thrown out at the plate (6-2). 2 RUN, 4 HITS (USC 2-0).

URI 1st - Hess doubled to right, Figueroa flied to center, Powell grounded to first unassisted (RBI), Olmo grounded to third. 1 RUN, 1 HIT (USC 2-1).

USC 2nd - Cullen struck out swinging, Tolbert singled to left-center, Mooney grounded to second, Cone singled to right-center (RBI), Hopkins struck out swinging. 1 RUN, 2 HITS (USC 3-1).

USC 3rd - Destino singled to left, DTW struck out looking, Arendas homered to right-center (2 RBI), Stokes flied to left, Cullen popped to first. 2 RUNS, 2 HITS (USC 5-1).

USC 4th - Tolbert lined to right, Mooney walked, Cone singled to right-center, Hopkins hit sacrifice fly to right (RBI), Destino flied to left-center. 1 RUN, 1 HIT (USC 6-1).

URI 4th - Olmo homered to right-center (RBI), McManus grounded to third, Foreman struckout swinging, Livingston struckout swingin. 1 RUN, 1 HIT (USC 6-2).

USC 5th - DTW walked, Arendas singled to right, Stokes hit by pitch, Cullen hit sacrifice fly to left-center (RBI), Stokes advanced to second and Arendas advanced to third on wild pitch, Tolbert walked, Mooney struck out swinging, Arendas scored on balk, Cone singled up the middle (2 RBI), Cone advanced to second on wild pitch, Cone advanced to third on wild pitch, Hopkins walked, Hopkins advanced to second on wild pitch, Destino homered to left (3 RBI), DTW doubled to left, Arendas tripled to left-center (RBI), Stokes grounded to shortstop. 8 RUNS, 5 HITS (USC 14-2).

USC 6th - Cullen struck out looking, Tolbert singled to right, Mooney singled to third, Cone walked, Hopkins tripled to right-center (3 RBI), Hopkins scored on passed ball, Jones (PH) struck out looking, DTW lined to right. 4 RUNS, 3 HITS (USC 18-2).

USC 7th - Arendas walked, Stokes hit by pitch, Stokes advanced to second and Arendas advanced to third on a wild pitch, Cullen walked, Tolbert doubled to right-center (2 RBI), Mooney singled to right (RBI), Scolamiero (PH) struck out swinging, Hopkins grounded to third (RBI), Jones popped to shortstop. 4 RUNS, 2 HITS (USC 22-2).

USC 9th – Williams (PH) homered to right (RBI), Scolamiero flied out to left-center, Hopkins reached on muffed throw by first baseman (E3), Jones grounded into 4-6-3 double play. 1 RUN, 1 HIT (USC 23-2).

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