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baseball Edit

Recap: Gamecocks pummel Penn State, 16-5

Alex Destino is greeted at home plate after hitting a HR in Saturday's win
Alex Destino is greeted at home plate after hitting a HR in Saturday's win (Paul Collins, Gamecock Central)

South Carolina faced Penn State Saturday afternoon in Game 2 of a three-game series at Founders Park. Here is a recap of what happened:

LINESCORE

PSU: 002 001 101 = 5-8-3

USC: 307 105 00x = 16-18-3

WP – Braden Webb (2-0) LP – Sal Biasi (1-1)

SV – None

HR – USC, Alex Destino 2 (1st, 2 on; 3rd, 3 on); John Jones (6th, 3 on).

HIGHLIGHTS:

-- Continuing to bounce back from a slow start to the season, Alex Destino hammered a 3-run homer over the right field wall in the bottom of the first to stake Braden Webb and the Gamecocks to a 3-0 lead. Jonah Bride’s infield single and a walk to John Jones preceded Destino’s blast.

-- Demonstrating a feast or famine tendency, Destino struckout with the bases loaded for the final out in the bottom of the second.

-- Penn State scored twice off Braden Webb in the top of the third when a two-out throwing error by Marcus Mooney opened the door for the Nittany Lions. A RBI single and Mooney’s second error of the inning led to PSU’s two runs.

-- The “good” Destino showed up again in the bottom of the third when he capped USC’s seven-run outburst with a two-out, grand slam homer over the right field wall, giving him two homers and seven RBI in the first three innings. It was Destino’s second career grand slam. Previously, USC scored three runs on a RBI double by Marcus Mooney, wild pitch and RBI single by Jonah Bride. When the dust cleared, the Gamecocks took a 10-2 lead into the middle innings. Destino finished the afternoon 3-for-6 with two homers and seven RBI.

-- The Gamecocks added a run in the bottom of the fourth for an 11-2 lead when the Penn State right fielder dropped D.C. Arendas’ long fly to right-center for a three-base error. Moments later, Arendas scored on Mooney’s RBI single, his second RBI of the afternoon on his fourth hit in the series.

-- Reliever Colton Provey took over on the mound at the beginning of the sixth inning. He gave up a run on a walk, balk and RBI single. But the trailing runner was thrown out 7-4 at second base after the run had scored.

-- Even though the Gamecocks were comfortably ahead, John Jones sent the crowd into a frenzy in the bottom of the sixth when he walloped a grand slam for a 16-3 lead. The four RBI, four-bagger gave Jones 17 RBI in seven games in his Gamecock career. How does that compare to last season’s catchers? Logan Koch (10 RBI) and Hunter Taylor (15 RBI) had just 25 RBI in a combined 76 starts, including 56 of 57 starts at catcher.

-- By the time the game entered the late stages, the only drama left was whether crowd favorite Brandon McIlwain (also a highly-touted 4-star quarterback) would collect his first career hit. He came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and flied to center, making him 0-for-5 on the season.

-- Destino pitched the ninth inning for the Gamecocks, allowing a walk and a pair of singles to the first three batters. The Nittany Lions scored one run on a sacrifice fly before the game ended when a Penn State runner was struck in the basepaths by a batted ball.

HOW THE RUNS SCORED:

USC 1st – Thompson-Williams struckout, Bride singled to third, Jones walked, Destino homered to right (3 RBI), Tolbert singled to right, Cone grounded to first, Arendas flied to right. THREE RUNS, THREE HITS (USC 3-0).

PSU 3rd – Sloniger struckout, Helsel struckout, Hughes reached on throwing error (E6), Hughes advanced to second on wild pitch, Guers singled to right (RBI), Guers stole second, Haley singled to short and Guers scored on throwing error (E6), Haley advanced to second on balk, Riotto lined to right. TWO RUNS, TWO HITS (USC 3-2).

USC 3rd – Tolbert singled to right, Tolbert advanced to second on wild pitch, Cone walked, Arendas popped to third (bunt), Mooney doubled to right (RBI), Blair struckout, Cone scored on wild pitch (Mooney to 3B), Thompson-Williams walked, Bride singled to left-center (RBI), Thompson-Williams stole third and Bride stole second (double steal), Jones walked, Destino homered to right (4 RBI), Tolbert fouled out to third. SEVEN RUNS, FOUR HITS (USC 10-2).

USC 4th – Cone lined to right, Arendas reached on three-base fielding error (E9), Mooney singled to center (RBI), Blair struckout, Thompson-Williams fli8ed to center. ONE RUN, ONE HIT (USC 11-2).

PSU 6th – Coates grounded to first, Kendall walked, Burger flied to center, Kendall advanced to second on a balk, Sloniger walked, Helsel singled to left (RBI) and Sloniger tagged out at second base (7-4). ONE RUN, ONE HIT (USC 11-3).

USC 6th – Cone reached on fielding error (E3), Arendas singled to right, Mooney grounded to short, Blair singled to center (RBI), Thompson-Williams flied to left, Bride walked, Jones homered to right (4 RBI), Destino doubled to right, Tolbert grounded to second. FIVE RUNS, FOUR HITS (USC 16-3).

PSU 7th - Hughes singled to left-center, Leavitt reached on fielding error (E4), Haley hit sacrifice fly to right (RBI), Bowersox reached on fielder’s choice (6-4), Riggins singled to center, Kendall flied to right. ONE RUN, TWO HITS (USC 16-4).

PSU 9th – Malinsky walked, Bowersox singled to right, Riggins singled to left, Kendall flied to center, Burger hit sacrifice fly to right (RBI), Graham grounded out to shortstop (runner interference). ONE RUN, TWO HITS. GAME OVER (USC 16-5).

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