Carolina pulls away to complete sweep of Albany

After a slow start, the South Carolina baseball team was able to rattle off 8 runs in the final four innings to sweep Albany 8-1 Sunday at Founders Park.

With the first weekend of baseball behind him, head coach Chad Holbrook is pleased but knows there is still room for improvement.

“I think we can play a lot better,” he said. “I’m not nit-picking, but when Dom (Thompson-Williams) and (Alex) Destino get going and with John (Jones) swinging the bat like he’s swinging the bat, we’ll be a tough team to handle.”

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With pitcher Taylor Widener making his first start since April of last season, Albany jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning behind two throwing errors from catcher Chris Cullen and shortstop Marcus Mooney.

It would stay 1-0 for the first half of the game, but not for the lack of trying.

The Gamecocks would have runners in scoring position the next three innings but weren’t able to scratch across a run, hitting balls hard directly to Albany defenders.

Catcher Chris Cullen lined to third in the second and Thompson-Williams, who came in batting .500, lined into a double play in the third.

“We had a lot of guys that squared up baseballs, and that’s the game. You can’t always get a hit. If you get a hit and it goes right into their glove you can’t do anything about that,” freshman second baseman LT Tolbert said. “I think we all stayed in the game, stayed positive because we knew they were going to drop.

It wasn’t until the fifth inning when those hits did start to drop. Designated hitter John Jones ripped a single into centerfield to tie the game at one, and then the floodgates opened.

South Carolina would score seven runs over the next two innings to secure the seven-run win.

Jones was a key player in that, driving in three runs on two hits at the designated hitter spot. He finishes opening weekend batting .600 with a home run and nine RBIs.

“You always expect yourself to do good and hold yourself to a higher standard,” sophomore Jones said. “Those RBIs wouldn’t have been possible without the guys in front of me: Marcus Mooney, people like that doing anything they can to get on before me. It’s just equally as good for them as it is for me.”

Gene Cone scored the go-ahead run in the sixth on a fielder’s choice that scored Tolbert. Tolbert rebounded from a 0-for-5 day Friday to go 3-for-4 and score two runs.

“He was a little uptight Friday as most freshmen would be in that situation. LT is a good baseball player; he does a lot of things well,” head coach Chad Holbrook said. “He’s a savvy baseball that’s very advanced considering he’s a freshman. He’s going to be a big-time player here.”

After giving up an unearned run in the first, Widener would settle down, only allowing one other base runner over the next four innings. The only jam he faced was in the fifth inning with an Albany player on third with one out.

The junior righty would strike out the next batter and get a groundout to end the threat. Widener finished his day giving up one run on two hits. He struck out six batters, one shy of his career high.

Widener broke out of his closer role from last year and utilized some off-speed pitches, like a changeup and curveball.

“I was very impressed. When he threw strikes he had good zip on his fastball,” Holbrook said. “So now he’s using all of his repertoire pitches and you’re seeing why he’s more suited in that starting role.”

The Gamecocks return to the diamond Tuesday at 4 p.m. where they will play Appalachian State. The game will be at Founders Park. Holbrook said he expects freshman right-handed pitcher Adam Hill to get the start.

This is the seventh time in 10 seasons the Gamecocks started the season with a sweep. The tam outscored the Great Danes 24-4 over the weekend. Holbrook is wary about “putting the cart before the horse” but says there’s something special about this team.

“There’s a different vibe,” Holbrook said. “We have some maturity; we have some guys that want to win in the worst way. We have some moxie and I’m anxious to see how that translate when the competition gets stiff.”

--Starting lineup: 1B, Alex Destino; 2B, LT Tolbert; 3B, Jonah Bride; SS, Marcus Mooney; LF, Dom Thompson-Williams; CF, Danny Blair; RF, TJ Hopkins; C, Chris Cullen; P, Taylor Widener; DH, John Jones

--Scoring: B1: Throwing error scores Kyle Sacks, 1-0 Albany; B5: Jones singles to score Mooney, 1-1; B6: Cone reaches on a fielder’s choice, Tolbert scores; Blair singles to score Cone; Jones singles to score Blair and Mooney, 4-1; Cone sacrifice fly scores Tolbert; Thompson-Williams singles to score Scolamiero and Mooney, 8-1.

Other notes

--Junior college transfer Colie Bowers picked up his first win as a Gamecock. He allowed no runs on no hits and two walks in 1.1 innings.

--Freshman Ross Grosvenor got his first hit of his career pinch-hitting in the seventh inning.

--Seven newcomers, including four freshmen, started for the Gamecocks.

--Brandon McIlwain remains hitless in his college career, striking out swinging in the eighth inning.

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