Cone, Johnson clutch as Gamecocks exorcise Friday night's demons
SEC Player of the Year? Gene Cone is working on that.
Exorcising Friday night’s demons, Cone delivered one of the biggest moments of the 2016 season when he hammered a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to provide the winning margin in a thrilling 2-1 victory over top-ranked Florida Saturday night before a boisterous standing room only crowd of 8,242 at Founders Park.
“It was a great college baseball game,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said after improving to 153-72 overall in his four seasons. Our players battled and competed every pitch in the batter’s box, but their pitchers are so good it makes it very difficult. After what happened last night, I was really proud of the way our team came to the park. They were energized, they were into it and invested everything they have in every pitch.”
Snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Gators, USC improved to 34-9 overall, 15-5 in the SEC and temporarily regained first place in the SEC East for about 16 hours until the first pitch of Sunday’s rubber game at 1:30 p.m.
“(Winning Sunday) would definitely put a feather in our cap,” Holbrook said. “But win, lose or draw, we’d still be atop the SEC. We’ve already won 15 games in the league already. Coaches talk about that number a lot, getting to 15 (SEC wins). After what happened last year, I’m awfully proud of my team getting to 15. That’s a heckuva accomplishment. It’s a great night for our program.”
About 24 hours after the Gators stole Friday night’s game with two solo homers in the top of the ninth off USC closer Josh Reagan, the Gamecocks faced the same scenario Saturday entering the top of the ninth – frantically trying to protect a one-run lead.
This time, Tyler Johnson stayed on the mound after fanning his first two Florida batters in the top of the eighth.
After a leadoff infield single and fielder’s choice groundout (6-4), a stolen base put the runner into scoring position.
Gamecocks shortstop Marcus Mooney made a big league play gloving a grounder behind second base and firing to first for the second out as the Florida runner advanced to third.
With the tying run 90 feet away, Johnson reared back and blew a third strike fastball past Ryan Larson, pumping his fist and leaping off the mound as the crowd roared and his gleeful Gamecock teammates sprinted from the dugout.
One night after being denied a save opportunity, Johnson recorded his fourth save of the season.
USC starter Braden Webb and Florida southpaw A.J. Puk (55 strikeouts in 41.0 IP coming in) locked horns in an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel for six innings as the score was tied 1-1 entering the late innings.
Florida jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Buddy Reed hammered a pitch over the right field wall. The ball barely cleared the wall, but enough to give the Gators an early lead.
USC wasted little time evening the score in the bottom of the second. Dom Thompson-Williams led off by doubling down the left field line. After two strikeouts, he raced home on freshman LT Tolbert’s clutch two-out RBI single to center. It was Tolbert’s 20th RBI of the season.
Except for three walks issued by Puk, the Gamecocks offense was fairly quiet for the next three innings following Tolbert’s run-scoring hit.
Madison Stokes, bidding for more playing time as the calendar turns to May, doubled to the wall in left-center in the sixth inning for USC’s first hit since the second. John Jones pinch-hit for Hunter Taylor (2 strikeouts vs. Puk) and grounded to shortstop to end the inning.
Relying mainly on his power fastball, changeup and one of the best knee-buckling 12-6 curveballs in college baseball, Webb retired 16 of the next 21 Florida batters after Reed’s homer through the first out in the top of the eighth. The five Gators batters reach via three walks and two singles. None of the baserunners scored.
Webb had six strikeouts during that stretch, finishing with one run and five hits allowed with seven strikeouts and three walks. He improved to 9-2 on the season and now has 83 strikeouts in 65.0 innings pitched.
“Against a great lineup, he threw all his pitches for strikes,” Holbrook said. “When he makes the hitters honor his off-sped pitches, he becomes very difficult to hit. Because he threw his curveball and changeup for strikes, he wasn’t one-dimensional tonight. That’s why he had some much success.”
Puk went to the mound for the bottom of the seventh, but didn’t throw a pitch. He was escorted back to the dugout by Florida’s medical staff.
He was replaced by Kirby Snead, who easily retired the first Gamecock batters. Then Cone, who earlier had extended his hitting streak to a school record 29 games, stepped to the plate and walloped a 2-2 pitch over the right-field fence to snap the tie.
It turned out to be the game-winning run.
“Gene is a good hitter when he is locked in,” Holbrook said. “I feel he can hit anybody, righty or lefty. His swing is short and compact that if you throw it over the plate he has a chance to make solid contact. He has a great plate approach. You hear scouts talk about professional approach. If there is such a thing, Gene has got it.”
Suddenly ahead by a run, Webb fanned the first Gator batter he faced in the top of the eighth before surrendering consecutive singles, bringing pitching coach Jerry Meyers to the mound and the hard-throwing Johnson from the bullpen.
Johnson picked up where he left off Friday night by blowing a fastball past Liput for the second out with two Gator runners on base. Next UF hitter? Same thing.
Again, the stage was set for the Gamecocks to close out a huge win over the nation’s No. 1 team. It didn’t happen Friday night.
Saturday, Johnson sealed the deal and, together with Cone’s heroics, the Gamecocks are back in first place, guaranteed to exit the weekend with at least a share of the top spot in the SEC East.
“Tyler was incredible finishing up the game,” Holbrook said. “He is probably our most improved player and hardest worker. It has been fun to watch him grow and develop. It was fun seeing him in that moment tonight.”
Webb and Johnson combined for 10 strikeouts. Johnson has 36 strikeouts compared to four walks in 29.2 innings this season.
“Braden and Tyler were outstanding and we played great defense,” Holbrook said. “Scoring against those guys is extremely difficult. We found a way to scratch two. Gene getting the big home run there in the seventh was the difference. That was all we needed. I never thought two runs would win the game. Credit to Braden and Tyler for what they did against an incredible lineup.”
LINESCORE
FLA (37-7) - 010 000 000 = 1-6-0
USC (34-9) - 010 000 10x = 2-5-0
WP – Braden Webb (9-2)
LP – Kirby Snead (3-1)
SV – Tyler Johnson (4)
HR – USC, Gene Cone (7th, none on); FLA, Buddy Reed (2nd, none on)
RBI – LT Tolbert (1), Gene Cone (1)
LOB – USC 6, Florida 6.
A – 8,242 (Sellout)
Time – 3:01
Gamecock Pitchers: Braden Webb (7.1, 104 pitches), Tyler Johnson (1.2, 35 pitches)
HOW THE RUNS SCORED:
FLA 2nd – Alonso fouled out to second, Reed homered to right (RBI), India grounded to third, Vasquez walked, Rivera lined to shortstop. 1 RUNS, 1 HIT (FLA 1-0)
USC 2nd – DTW doubled down left field line, Stokes struckout, Taylor struckout, Tolbert singled to center (RBI), Mooney popped to second. 1 RUN, 2 HITS (TIED 1-1).
USC 7th – Tolbert grounded to second, Mooney struckout, Cone homered to right (RBI), Hopkins struckout. 1 RUN, 1 HIT (USC 2-1).
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