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Gamecocks find their hitting shoes in time to salvage series finale

Braden Webb performs a pre-game back flip Sunday prior to Game 3 vs. Texas A&M
Braden Webb performs a pre-game back flip Sunday prior to Game 3 vs. Texas A&M
Chris Gillespie, Gamecock Central

South Carolina-Texas A&M Game 3 Photo Gallery by Chris Gillespie

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A power surge from Dom Thompson-Williams’ bat, double digit walks from Texas A&M pitchers and a healthy dose of small ball came at just the right time in just the right proportions for South Carolina.

Batting cleanup for the eighth time this season, DTW homered twice, singled and reached base five times to spark the Gamecocks to a much-needed 10-7 victory over Texas A&M Sunday before 7,815 sun-splashed fans at Founders Park, salvaging the final game of an important three-game series on the next-to-last weekend of the SEC regular season schedule.

“I feel a little bit relieved,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said. “I haven’t had the happy feeling sink in yet just because it was an important game for a lot of different reasons. I worried about our psyche coming to the park today. When you’re not feeling good about yourself and you’re playing a team of that magnitude, sometimes it doesn’t work out. Luckily, our team showed some moxie and competed. They willed their way to win the game.”

USC improved to 38-13 overall, 17-9 in the SEC. If they win at least two of three games at Alabama, the Gamecocks are guaranteed of finishing no worse than second in the SEC East and keep themselves in the national seed discussion.

The victory kept the Gamecocks within one game of Florida (18-8) in the SEC East standings, setting the stage for a frantic final weekend when USC visits Alabama (swept Arkansas in Fayetteville) and the Gators visit Baton Rouge for three games against LSU at Alex Box Stadium.

Before heading to Tuscaloosa, the Gamecocks host The Citadel Tuesday night.

“Getting a win today after what happened the first two days is a good feeling going into the last week of the regular season,” Holbrook said. “We have an important game against The Citadel Tuesday before we go to Tuscaloosa. It will certainly be a challenge down there the way (Alabama) is playing. That’s life in the SEC).”

Texas A&M, meanwhile, fell into a first-place tie with Mississippi State (18-9), while LSU and Ole Miss (both 17-10) lurk a game behind. Ole Miss goes to College Station on the final weekend.

DTW helped USC stay alive in the SEC East race by smacking homers in the second and third innings to lift the Gamecock into a 5-3 lead after three innings. His second round tripper, a mammoth two-run shot onto the street beyond the right-field fence, capped a four-run outburst.

“I’ve been trying like crazy to get him to pull some balls,” Holbrook said. “He has such explosive power. He is just figuring out how to use it. That’s why Dom’s best baseball is in front of him as he continues to learn how to play.

“He made a little adjustment in his swing. He was sweeping the bat through the zone instead of swinging it. He kept both hands on the bat today and hit through the ball. His swing was very short. It was an impressive performance. He carried us for the most part.”

After Texas A&M narrowed the gap to 5-4 in the top of the fifth, the Gamecocks erupted for three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Three consecutive walks + wild pitch + suicide squeeze + RBI single by LT Tolbert was the successful formula providing Gamecocks with an 8-4 lead.

The Gamecocks tallied single runs in the seventh (infield single) and eighth (suicide squeeze) innings to double up the Aggies at 10-5. Texas A&M added two meaningless runs in the top of the ninth on a home run before Tyler Johnson was summoned from the bullpen.

In his second longest stint of the season, Josh Reagan worked 4.1 innings in relief of starter Adam Hill (2.2 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs) and combined with Taylor Widener (1.2 IP) and Johnson (0.1) to limit the Aggies to five hits and four runs over the final 6.1 innings.

“We got some very good pitching from Reagan and Widener and then Tyler to close it out,” Holbrook said.

Johnson needed all of four pitches to strike out his lone Aggie batter for the final out and record his sixth save of the season.

Seven Texas A&M pitchers aided he Gamecocks cause by walking 11 batters, most by an opponent this season. Four Gamecocks walked twice - DTW, John Jones, Gene Cone and Jonah Bride.

In addition, USC collected a season high five sacrifices as Holbrook turned to small ball to help ignite a sputtering offense that had amassed just 13 hits in the previous three games.

“The players executed,” Holbrook said. “When they execute, it makes everybody look smart. We got our bunts down. We knew every run would be important against this team. You never feel like you have a big enough lead.

“I went into the game today with the mindset to try to get a runner into scoring position every inning, whether stealing, hit-and-run or moving them up. That (strategy) got us a couple of runs. But we also left some runs out there on the field.”

On a negative note, freshman OF T.J. Hopkins suffered a potentially serious knee injury leaping against the centerfield wall trying to catch a home run. He is scheduled to undergo a MRI on Monday. He will likely be sidelined for the remainder of the regular season and possibly the SEC Tournament as well depending on the results of the MRI.

LINESCORE

TAM (39-11) – 003 011 002 = 7-10-2

USC (38-13) – 014 030 11x = 10-10-1

WP – Josh Reagan (2-2)

LP – Kyle Simonds (8-2)

SV – Tyler Johnson (6)

HR – USC, DTW 2 (2nd, none on; 3rd, one on); TAM, Hunter Melton (3rd, two on), Ronnie Gideon (6th, none on), Ryne Birk (9th, one on).

RBI – DTW (3), Alex Destino (1), Scolamiero (1), Arendas (1), Tolbert (1), Mooney (1).

LOB – USC 10, TAM 9

A – 7,815.

Time – 3:32

Gamecock Pitchers: Adam Hill (2.2 IP), Josh Reagan (4.1 IP), Taylor Widener (1.2 IP), Tyler Johnson (0.1 IP).

HOW THE RUNS SCORED:

USC 2nd – DTW homered to right, Jones walked, Bride sacrificed (1-3), Stokes struckout, Hopkins grounded to short. 1 RUN, 1 HIT (USC 1-0).

TAM 3rd – Bedford flied to center, Moss walked, Moss caught stealing (2-6), Choruby singled to left, White walked, Melton homered to center (3 RBI), Birk singled to left-center, <Reagan for Hill>, Banks reached on fielding error (E7), Homan grounded to pitcher. 3 RUNS, 3 HITS (TAM 3-1).

USC 3rd - Tolbert grounded to first, Cone walked, Mooney hit by pitch, Destino singled to right (RBI) and advanced to second on fielding error (E9) and Mooney scored on fielding error (E6), DTW homered to right (2 RBI), Jones struck out looking, Bride walked, Stokes grounded to first. 4 RUNS, 2 HITS (USC 5-3).

TAM 5th – White grounded to second, Melton walked, Birk singled to right, Banks reached on fielder's choice (6-4) and run scores (RBI), Homan grounded into fielder's (6-4). 1 RUN, 1 HIT (USC 5-4).

USC 5th - DTW walked, Jones walked, Bride walked, Stokes struck out swinging and run scored on wild pitch, Scolamiero sacrificed (2-4) on suicide squeeze bunt (run scored)(RBI), Tolbert singled to right (RBI), Tolbert caught stealing (2-6). 3 RUNS, 1 HIT (USC 8-4).

TAM 6th – Gideon homered to right (RBI), Bedford lined to second, Moss struck out swinging, Choruby walked, White flied to left-center. 1 RUN, 1 HIT (USC 8-5).

USC 7th - Arendas walked, Scolamiero reached on fielder's choice on bunt (1-6), Tolbert grounded to second, Cone walked, Mooney singled to second (RBI), Destino grounded to short (1-6-3). 1 RUN, 1 HIT (USC 9-5).

USC 8th - DTW singled to center, Cullen sacrificed (U-1), Bride singled to shortstop, Arendas sacrificed on suicide squeeze (3-4)(RBI), Scolamiero struck out swinging. 1 RUN, 2 HITS (USC 10-5).

TAM 9th – Choruby struck out swinging, White hit by pitch, Melton reached on fielder's choice (4-6), Birk homered to right-center (2 RBI), Banks doubled to left, <Johnson for Widener>, Homan struck out swinging. 1 RUN, 2 HITS (USC 10-7). GAME OVER.

South Carolina-Texas A&M Game 3 Boxscore

Freshman OF T.J. Hopkins was helped off the field Sunday with an injury
Freshman OF T.J. Hopkins was helped off the field Sunday with an injury
Chris Gillespie, Gamecock Central
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