The Daily Gamecock

Takeaways from South Carolina baseball's offense-heavy scrimmage on Thursday

Freshman Jalen Vasquez swings at the ball during the scrimmage on Thursday, Oct. 10.
Freshman Jalen Vasquez swings at the ball during the scrimmage on Thursday, Oct. 10.

The South Carolina baseball team hosted an intrasquad scrimmage Thursday afternoon as its fall workouts roll on.

The teams were split up based on the two colors of the university: garnet and black. 

Redshirt sophomore Thomas Farr started on the mound for the garnet team and pitched two scoreless innings, picking up four strikeouts. 

As for the black team, returning junior Brannon Jordan started and went two innings, giving up two runs. Control seemed to be an issue for the right-hander as he allowed four walks, two of which came with the bases loaded in the second inning. 

After two innings of play, the garnet team was up by a score of 2-0. 

In the top of the third inning, the black team's offense scored five runs on seven hits against junior left-handed pitcher John Gilreath. Four of the runs in the frame came off of three doubles, one of which was off the bat of freshman Brennan Milone, who had three RBIs. 

Heading into the bottom of the fifth inning down by two runs, the garnet team came back to tie the game at six as junior outfielder Andrew Eyster launched a solo home run into the visiting bullpen and the garnet team's solid base running led to a runner scoring from third base on a sacrifice fly. 

In the top of the sixth inning, freshman Trey Tujetsch struck out the side, leading to head coach Mark Kingston calling both sides out to center field and putting an end to the scrimmage. 

The garnet and black teams ended their contest in a 6-6 tie.    

Takeaways from Thursday's scrimmage

1) Brennan Milone had the most impressive day at the plate, with two doubles and three RBIs. While this is a one-game sample size, the young infielder could have a bright future as the upcoming 2021 season approaches. 

2) Gamecock left-handed pitching did not fare well on Thursday. For the garnet team, John Gilreath pitched two innings, striking out three batters. However, he struggled when he first came in to relieve Farr, allowing seven hits, which was good enough for five earned runs. In his second inning of work, Gilreath retired the side in order. On the opposing side, sophomore Josiah Sightler pitched three innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits, striking out three. While there is plenty of time to make changes, it was surprising to see the pitching struggle in the way it did. 

3) There were a plethora of hits and runs to go around for the Gamecock offense. In total, both sides combined for 19 hits and 12 runs in the five and a half innings of play. For a team that showed struggles offensively in the shortened COVID-19 season, it looked very rejuvenated and ready to go on Thursday. 

Up next for South Carolina in this fall season will be another intrasquad scrimmage at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Founders Park. 

 


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