South Carolina played host to the red-hot Cal State Bakersfield baseball team for this weekend’s series. The Gamecocks ended the Roadrunners 10 game win streak and took the series two games to one by scores of 5-1, 5-2 and 3-8.
Breaking it Down…South Carolina began the series by surrendering a run in the top of the first. The offense quickly took the lead back in the second inning on an RBI single by Jackie Bradley, Jr. and an error on Bakersfield’s shortstop. Mike McCarthy, the Roadrunners’ starting pitcher, and Michael Roth settled into a pitcher’s battle after that. Other than a Bradley double in the third inning, the two pitchers didn’t allow any hits until the bottom fifth inning. In that inning Jackie Bradley hit a two run home run extend the lead to 4-1. Roth scattered four more hits, but no runs and worked through the eighth inning. The Gamecocks added one in the bottom of the eighth, and John Taylor allowed no runs in the ninth to end the game.
On Saturday Bakersfield sent Jonathan Montoya to the mound to face Sven Neff. The pitchers dominated the game early and didn’t allow a run until the fourth inning. The Roadrunners manufactured a run in the fourth on a single, sac bunt and single to take a 1-0 lead. Just like Friday night, USC’s offense came alive in response. The Gamecocks pushed across three runs on four singles. Neff hit two batters in the top of the fifth but allowed no hits and no runs. Peter Mooney and Scott Wingo each had RBI singles in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend the Gamecock lead. Bakersfield manufactured another run in the eighth but were able to get any more and lost 5-2.
On Sunday South Carolina came to the park looking for the sweep. For a third day in a row Bakersfield took the lead, and for a third day South Carolina responded in the bottom of the inning. The Roadrunners plated one run in the second, and Adam Matthews drove in Christian Walker to tie the score in the bottom half of the frame. The game then got away from the Gamecocks in the third. The nightmare inning went like this: walk, single, strike out, walk, sac fly, fielders choice and error, wild pitch, single and fielder’s choice. The inning chased USC starter Tyler Webb from the game and brought freshman Forrest Koumas in. All told the Roadrunners put 4 runs on the board to take the lead 5-1. The Gamecocks’ offense couldn’t respond, and Bakersfleld added two more in the 6th. South Carolina started to rally in the eighth and got two runs, but the comeback was thwarted on a line drive double play that ended the inning. Bakersfield tacked on another run in the eighth to make the final score 8-3.
Stars of the Series…Michael Roth…W, 8 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K…John Taylor…2 app, 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K, 0 BB…Steven Neff…W, 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 K, 0 BB, 2 HBP…Jose Mata…2.2 IP, 8 batters faced, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K…Jackie Bradley, Jr….5-9, 2B, HR, SB, 4 RBI…Robert Beary…2-2, 2 R…
What to take from the Weekend…There are two ways to look at this weekend. You can look at the series alone, and you can look at the progression of the team in the season. Looking at the series alone, it was a good weekend. Bakersfield was red hot having won 10 in a row and had outstanding pitching. The Gamecocks stopped that streak and won the series 2 games to 1.
Taking a longer view of the development of this year’s team, there are several areas of concern that haven’t resolved themselves. The end of the weekend rotation needs to be solidified. That may happen when Westmoreland gets back on schedule, or it may happen if Neff continues to improve his outings. It hasn’t happened yet, and if it doesn’t happen soon, conference play is going to be very difficult.
Another emerging problem is the defense. With the ineffectiveness of the new bats there is a premium on quality defense. Every misstep is going to be magnified because it is less likely that a 3 run home run will erase the problem in the next inning. That said, there have been an alarmingly high number of errors in the infield. An error helped exacerbate the problem in the third inning on Sunday. Those type things can be killers and will really hurt the pitching staff and the team in the long run.
The last area of concern is the lead off position. So far this season there hasn’t been much production there. The coaching staff has tried different players there to try to get something going, but it hasn’t worked out yet. Over the weekend, lead off batters were 1-13. For the season the lead off hitters have hit 9 for 57 or .158. This problem can be fixed, but it needs to be fixed soon with conference play beginning this weekend.
These areas can improve and having concerns at this time of year is normal. As Coach Tanner said after Sunday’s game, “We’ve played a good schedule and we’ve won our share of games.” He’s right, so don’t worry about the questionable areas too much right now.
This and that…South Carolina is now 11-2 on the season and has won all of its weekend series….The Gamecocks two losses have both come on Sundays…Christian Walker’s hitting streak was broken on Friday night after 15 straight games dating back to last season…Jackie Bradley, Jr., now has the longest active streak at 5 games…Michael Roth is now 4-0 in 4 starts…Bakersfield and Carolina combined for 16 hits on Saturday, all of them singles.
Up next…South Carolina returns to Fluor Field in Greenville on Tuesday to play Furman. On Wednesday the Gamecocks host Wofford, and play a three game series against Georgia this weekend beginning Friday.
