Arkansas came to Columbia for the penultimate SEC series. After dropping the first game 6-2, the Gamecocks won on Saturday 6-5 and Sunday 7-1 to win the series.
Breaking it Down…On Friday the game was delayed for two hours and didn’t start until 10. The Gamecocks might have wanted the game to be delayed further. Despite putting runners on in each of the first three innings South Carolina didn’t get any key hits and let Arkansas starting pitcher D.J. Baxendale off the hook each time. Arkansas threatened in the early innings, too, and they got on the board in the fourth. Twice on attempts to steal second, South Carolina threw the ball into centerfield and put runners on third. Twice those runners scored, and the Razorbacks led 2-0.
Brady Thomas responded in the fourth with a lead off single, but despite being moved to third, couldn’t score. Arkansas and South Carolina both put two runners on in the fifth, but no one scored. The Razorbacks added a third in the sixth and chased Michael Roth from the game. John Taylor, who relieved Roth in the sixth was relieved by Bryan Harper in the seventh but not before giving up another run.
The Gamecocks finally broke through in the seventh with a run, but with runners on second and third and one out, a strike out and fly out ended the game. Arkansas added two in the eighth, and the Gamecocks mustered one last run in the ninth to make the final a forgettable 6-2 loss.
After Friday night’s loss, the Gamecocks had lost three in a row making Saturday’s game all the more important. Arkansas loaded the bases in the first but couldn’t score. In the bottom of the first the Gamecocks scored two and left two on base. It looked like Saturday would be different from Friday. The Gamecocks added one in the second, and Arkansas added one as well to make the score 3-1. Steven Neff hit a two run home run in the fourth to extend the lead to 5-1. Friday night’s poor play seemed like a distant memory. Then came the Arkansas sixth. The Razorbacks had three hits and scored two runs to cut the lead to an uncomfortably close 5-3. USC put runners on in their half of the sixth and seventh but couldn’t score. In the eighth Arkansas got two runs off of Matt Price and tied the game. All Carolina could muster in response was a two out single. Price then took care of Arkansas in the ninth, but the Gamecocks didn’t seem to have the energy they had in other weekends. Scott Wingo took things into his own hands and drilled a 1-1 pitch into the USC bullpen for a walk off home run.
Saturday’s game had been delayed by rain, so the senior day activities were moved to Sunday. It turned out to be a good senior day for the six seniors. The Gamecocks loaded the bases with no outs in the first, but only managed to score one. In the second they did the same thing and led 2-0 after 2. In the fourth Steven Neff hit a two run home run to extend the lead to 4-0. In the fifth Robert Beary singled in a run to extend the lead to 5-0. Peter Mooney led off the sixth with a double. When Scott Wingo tried to sacrifice him over, the third baseman threw the ball away allowing Mooney to score. The scoring wouldn’t end for the Gamecocks until the eighth when Steven Neff hit his second home run of the game to right center.
While all of the scoring was going on, Colby Holmes was mowing down the Razorbacks. Sunday’s start had been TBA until late, and Coach Tanner decided to go with Holmes instead of Neff. Holmes scattered 6 hits through 8 and 2/3. In the ninth Holmes stayed in the game to try to complete it, but when he was only one strike away, he surrendered a home run. Tyler Webb and John Taylor came in to finish the game. The Gamecocks won the game 7-1 and the series 2-1.
Stars of the Series…Steven Neff…6-8, 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI…Scott Wingo…7-13, GW HR, 2 RBI…Robert Beary…5-12, RBI…Brady Thomas…5-14…Colby Holmes…W, 8.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 7 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP
What to Take from the Weekend: What a great turnaround. After many rain delays the Gamecocks didn’t play like themselves on Friday night. That lackluster performance seemed to carry over into parts of Saturday’s game. Then Wingo hit his home run and single handedly brought the team out of their funk. With the series on the line on Sunday, the team we know showed up and spanked the Razorbacks. In doing so, they made last weekend’s loss an aberration and set themselves up for a stretch run. On to Tuscaloosa.
This and That…South Carolina improves to 41-11 overall and 20-7 in conference…Carolina is tied for 1st in the East with Florida and Vanderbilt…USC has won 40 or more games 12 seasons in a row now….Arkansas falls to 13-14 in conference and is tied for 1st in the West…Double Plays: SC 3 Ark 3…LOB: SC 29 Ark 33…Errors: SC 6 Ark 7.
Up next: South Carolina hosts UNC-Asheville on Tuesday night at 7. The game will be on SportSouth. For the weekend series the Gamecocks travel to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama. The series will be a Thursday to Saturday series. Thursday’s and Saturday’s games will be at 7:35 pm, and Saturday’s game will be at 1 pm on CSS.
