The South Carolina baseball team beat Winthrop 7-1 in a matchup with little drama on Tuesday night.
The Eagles' lone run came in the fourth inning by way of a solo home run from Dillion Morton.
Despite a slow start, redshirt freshman Cade Austin collected the win on the mound for the Gamecocks. Austin noted that his improvement during the game was thanks to the execution of his pitches, most notably his change-up. After the game, he praised the Gamecock defense for its support.
“It helps so much when you have guys like Kevin (Madden) and (Michael) Braswell, it makes it so much easier to pitch.”
Austin pitched four innings, giving up four hits and one earned run. He also gave up one walk and tallied one strikeout on 53 pitches.
When discussing the offense after the game, South Carolina head baseball coach Mark Kingston mentioned that the offense was “good, not great.” He cited that the Gamecocks' offense left 14 runners on base and that it needed to be better than that.
"When you win seven to one, you say 'good job' and you move on to the next,” Kingston said.
The South Carolina offense was headlined by senior infielder Kevin Madden who finished the game going 2-5 with two RBI's. Madden connected with a change-up in the eight inning that he sent 374 feet into left-center field for a home run in the eighth inning.
Kingston noted that Madden told the team that he’s always kind of been a slow starter, but that Madden is starting to find his rhythm and hit the ball hard.
Reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Michael Braswell also had a solid outing. The infielder displayed his defensive abilities and a hit to drive in a runner in the bottom of the seventh inning.
With the win, South Carolina improves to 3-1 on the season and looks to it's upcoming weekend series against winless George Washington University. Game one is slated for Friday at 4 p.m.