South Carolina opened conference play this weekend against Georgia in Columbia. After dropping Friday night’s game 4-2, the Gamecocks took the last two by scores of 2-1and 8-3.
Breaking it Down…South Carolina fell behind immediately in the first game. In the top of the first inning, Zach Cone doubled in a run. A strike out later, Peter Mooney’s error on what would have been the third out allowed Cone to score. Quickly Georgia led 2-0. South Carolina couldn’t respond, and the Bulldogs were able to plate another run in the third helped in part by another error. Trailing 3-0, USC scratched a run across in the third when Scott Wingo was driven in by Adrian Morales. After that score, the two teams settled into a pitcher’s duel. Alex Wood from Georgia and Michael Roth made sure that no more runs came across until the ninth. The next run was scored by Georgia in the ninth off of reliever John Taylor. Though the offense struggled all day, there was a little left in the tank for the Gamecocks in the ninth. With one out, Brady Thomas hit a solo home run to cut the lead to two. Robert Beary managed to get on with a walk. Scott Wingo then came to the plate with one on and two outs. He hit a towering shot to right field, but it was caught just short off the wall to end the game.
Saturday the Gamecocks came out needing a win. Steven Neff took the mound against Michael Palazzone, and the two pitchers put on a clinic. Neff gave up a run in the third when he walked the leadoff batter who came around to score. Palazzone didn’t give up a run until the eighth inning. Adam Matthews tripled, and Christian Walker doubled in the next at bat to tie the game at one. Matt Price came in the ninth and surrendered two hits but no runs. In the home half of the ninth Morales started the rally with a single to left field. Wofford transfer Jake Williams singled to center in the next at bat. Evan Marzilli sacrificed both runners over. Mooney was unable to drive in a run, and Wingo came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and two outs needing a run, again. Wingo hit the ball to the right side and beat the race to first to seal the victory.
Sunday’s rubber match would feature more scoring. For a third day in a row Georgia took the lead early. Adam Westmoreland loaded the bases in the second by hitting a batter, walking a batter and hitting another, all with no outs. Forrest Koumas came in to try to stop the bleeding. He gave up a hit, but forced the Bulldogs to leave the bases loaded and gave up two runs. In the Carolina second Wingo drove in Robert Beary and Matthews drove in Mooney to tie the game. Following a scoreless Georgia third, Beary singled in Williams to take the lead 3-2. Georgia got the lead back with one in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the inning, Wingo scored on Christian Walker’s groundout to take the lead back 4-3. In the sixth Matthews scored on Morales’s groundout to extend the lead to 5-3. In the eighth Carolina poured it on for good measure. Matthews scored on a throwing error and Marzilli doubled in two to make the score 8-3. Matt Price, who had pitched the eighth, finished the save in the ninth.
Stars of the Series…Adam Matthews…5-11, 2B, 3B, SB, RBI…Adrian Morales…5-11, 2 RBI…Scott Wingo…4-10, 2B, 2 RBI…Michael Roth…L, 6.1 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 8 K, 2 BB…John Taylor…3 app, 5.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 K…Steven Neff…7 IP, R, ER, 3 H, 4 K, 1 BB…Matt Price…W, S, 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 6K…Forrest Koumas…W, 3.1 IP, 2 H, R, ER, 6 K, 3 BB…
What to Take From the Weekend…There’s no such thing as a disappointing SEC series win. There wasn’t the run production or error free defense that we were hoping for, but it was a pretty satisfying series nonetheless. We’ll know so much more after next weekend, but right now it’s tough to tell if this is a good team having a bit of a power outage or if its a great team having a slow offensive week or if its an average team with average batting. I somehow doubt it’s the last one, but we’ll see. Right now, this team has won every series it has played, has lost only one midweek game and is 14-4. Last year’s national championship team lost 4 games 10 games into the season. Any complaints at this point are nitpicking and should’t be dwelt upon.
This and That…South Carolina is now 14-4, 2-1. They have taken the season series from Georgia three years in a row. Jackie Bradley didn’t have his best weekend. The reason: he was hitting lead off two of the games. Gamecocks batting in the leadoff position have now gone over a week since getting their last hit, a span of 0-21. God help whoever leads off against Charleston.
Up Next…The Gamecocks play host to College of Charleston on Tuesday and Rhode Island on Wednesday. Then they play a huge series against Florida this weekend in Gainesville. Tuesday’s game against CofC will be televised on SportSouth, but if you don’t get it or aren’t in front of a TV, follow us on Twitter, and we’ll keep you updated: @LOHDGamecocks @MooseLOHD @GeneralLOHD.
