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Cone sets hit streak record, Gamecocks impressively sweep aside Mizzou

Gene Cone extended his hitting streak to 27 games on Sunday
Gene Cone extended his hitting streak to 27 games on Sunday
Gamecock Central

South Carolina-Missouri Game 3 Boxscore

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Gene Cone first took care of the matter at hand.

Then he got down to business.

In one of his best performances in 138 career games, the Columbia native and Spring Valley High graduate established a new school record for longest hitting streak (27 games) in lavish style, collecting five hits, three runs batted in and three runs scored, igniting the South Carolina offense from atop the order in a convincing 9-2 victory over Missouri Sunday in front of 7,076 sun-splashed fans.

Bettering their Founders Park record to 25-1 this season (9-0 in SEC), USC completed a momentum-building three-game sweep over the struggling Tigers.

USC improved to 33-8 overall, 14-4 in the SEC, and now prepares for the biggest weekend of the season as Florida invades Columbia for a high-stakes three-game series at Founders Park beginning Friday at 7 p.m.

“We played a great game today,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said. “We pitched, we played defense and we swung the bats very well. I’m awfully proud of my team for the way they came to the park ready to play and not being satisfied with the first two (wins). We may have played one of our most complete games of the year today.”

Outscoring Missouri, 22-5, over the final 24 innings of play, the Gamecocks swept their fourth series of the season after previous sweeps over Arkansas, Ole Miss and Tennessee. USC (14-4) holds a one-game lead over Florida (13-5) in the SEC East standings heading into next weekend’s showdown series.

“The series turned in the middle innings on Friday night, we kept the momentum the rest of the way and won three games in a row,” Holbrook said. “We beat some good pitchers to do it. I feel good about our team.

The top four hitters in USC’s batting order (Cone, T.J. Hopkins, John Jones, Alex Destino) combined to go 13-for-20 at the plate with nine RBI and five runs scored.

In all, the Gamecocks totaled 16 hits, four for extra bases, three by Cone.

Cone’s quest to set a new record for longest hitting streak in school history was the main attraction when Sunday’s game began and he did not disappoint.

Cone set the coveted record with a leadoff triple in the bottom of the first. He quickly scored on Hopkins’ RBI single and the Gamecocks never looked back.

Thereafter, Cone doubled in the third, drove in two runs with a two-out single in the fourth, stroked a RBI double in the sixth and singled in the eighth.

He fell a homer short of the cycle.

“Obviously, Gene had an incredible day,” Holbrook said. “It was a special day for him. He has been on a great run. I have seen a few weekends like that, but not many. He is just locked in and hitting them where they ain’t. He’s hitting the ball with authority too. He competes every pitch and gives himself a chance because he doesn’t chase pitches out of the strike zone and he has a short stroke.”

Cementing his SEC Player of the Week credentials, Cone went 10-for-12 at the plate in the series with six RBI and seven runs scored as he raised his batting average 46 points to a sparkling .376 (49-130) with 15 games regular season games remaining.

“He has put his time in and worked hard,” Holbrook said. “He is very confident player. It’s always great to see hard work pay off.”

Cone and Hopkins combined again in the bottom of the third for USC’s third run of the game. Cone doubled and Hopkins singled as the freshman from Summerville continued to take advantage of his first start in the series.

Hopkins has made the most of his limited playing time this season, batting .352 (25-71) with 22 RBI in 26 games (19 starts).

“T.J. gave us a spark again,” Holbrook said. “When he is in the lineup, he makes a difference for us. He brings so much from an athletic standpoint. When he is on base it just makes it easier for us to score because he is so fast and he puts pressure on other teams. He was terrific today.”

Some two-out lightning lifted the Gamecocks into a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the red hot Cone, who lined a two-run single to center, giving the Gamecocks a 6-0 lead.

As the Gamecocks offense was scoring in three of the first four innings, Gamecock starter Adam Hill (6-0) was handling the Missouri offense with seemingly ease. He fanned four of the first six Tiger batters and worked out of minor trouble in the first (consecutive singles) and third (back-to-back walks), but spent most of his time working out of the full windup.

Hill retired nine of 10 Missouri batters from the top of the third until one out in the top of the sixth. Missouri got a runner to third in that inning but a grounder to first preserved the shutout.

In his longest stint of the season (6.1 IP), Hill allowed four hits, struck out eight and walked one before departing with one out in the top of the seventh shortly after throwing his 100th pitch.

“That was one of Adam’s best starts in a while,” Holbrook said. “He was a lot more efficient and his line is clean (no runs allowed). When he commands his fastball, he is awfully tough. His command wasn’t perfect today, but it was a lot better than his previous two or three starts.”

After walking 12 batters in his previous 20.1 innings pitched, Hill issued just one free pass Sunday.

He was replaced on the mound by Brandon Murray, who retired the only two Mizzou batters he faced as the Gamecocks took a 6-0 lead into the seventh inning stretch.

Taylor Widener took over pitching duties at the outset of the eighth.

Cone’s second double of the game scored Marcus Mooney from first base in the bottom of the sixth.

When Widener surrendered a pair of two-out RBI hits (double and single) in the top of the eighth, he was lifted in favor of Tyler Johnson with the Gamecocks leading 6-2.

The Gamecocks added three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth on a walk and four straight singles by Cone (5th hit of the day), Hopkins, Jones and Destino.

Johnson, whose draft stock seems to rise every time he takes the mound, closed out the sweep by setting down Mizzou in order in the top of the ninth. He needed just 16 pitches to get four outs.

LINESCORE

MIZ (20-21): 000 000 020 = 2-7-0

USC (33-8): 201 201 00x = 9-16-0

WP – Adam Hill (6-0)

LP – Michael Plassmeyer ((3-4)

SV – None

HR – None

RBI – Gene Cone (3), TJ Hopkins (3), Alex Destino (2), Jones (1).

LOB – USC 9, Missouri 7

A – 7,076

Time – 2:46

Gamecock Pitchers: Adam Hill (6.1 IP, 102 pitches), Brandon Murray (0.2, 9 pitches), Taylor Widener (0.2, 20 pitches), Tyler Johnson (1.1, 16 pitches).

HOW THE RUNS SCORED:

USC 1st – Cone tripled to right-center, Hopkins singled to center (RBI), Jones struckout, Hopkins stole second, Destino singled to center (RBI), DTW grounded into fielder’s choice (5-4), DTW picked off first (1-3). TWO RUNS, THREE HITS (USC 2-0).

USC 3rd – Mooney flied to center, Cone doubled to right, Hopkins singled to right-center (RBI), Jones struckout, Destino struckout. ONE RUN, TWO HITS (USC 3-0).

USC 4th – DTW fouled to third, Bride grounded to second, Stokes singled to third, Tolbert singled to right, Mooney walked, Cone singled to center (2 RBI), Hopkins grounded to shortstop. TWO RUNS, THREE HITS (USC 5-0).

USC 6th – Tolbert flied to center, Mooney singled to third base, Cone doubled to left-center (RBI), Hopkins flied to center, Jones singled to pitcher and Cone thrown out at the plate (3-2). ONE RUN, THREE HITS (USC 6-0).

MIZ 8th – Brumfield singled to shortstop, Ring flied to center, Howard reached on fielder's choice (6-4), Lavy doubled to left-center (RBI), Harris singled to right (RBI), <Johnson for Widener>, Bond struck out. TWO RUNS, THREE HITS (USC 6-2).

USC 8th – Tolbert grounded to second, Mooney walked, Cone singled to left-center, Hopkins singled to right (RBI), Jones singled to right (RBI), Destino singled to center (RBI), DTW struckout, Bride flied to center. THREE RUNS, FOUR HITS (USC 9-2).

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