The South Carolina baseball team continued its undefeated start to its season with a 14-4 run-rule win over Gardner-Webb on Tuesday evening.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs struck early in the first inning, quickly putting runners on second and third. Redshirt senior infielder Dale Francis Jr. had the RBI single to push the first two runs of the game home.
Senior outfielder Dalton Mashore took a hard fall in the to
e first inning running toward a foul ball, eventually returning to the game after a few minutes.
"I very much applaud the effort, and that's the way we play the game: full speed, 100 miles an hour with our hair on fire," head coach Paul Mainieri said.
It didn’t take long for the Gamecocks to answer back, with junior fielder Jase Woita hitting his second home run of the season to cut the deficit in half. The momentum continued when senior outfielder Kennedy Jones hit a two-out double followed by sophomore infielder Nolan Nawrocki drawing a walk and Mashore being hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Jones advanced home on a wild pitch to tie the game, with the Gamecocks quickly loading the bases again with a walk from junior infielder Henry Kaczmar.
The second inning saw even more action for the Gamecocks' offense. Junior catcher Max Kaufer made the most of his first start for the Gamecocks, notching his first home run as a Gamecock to give them their first lead of the game.
Woita quickly followed, hitting his second home run of the game to double the Gamecocks' lead. Despite the Gamecocks loading the bases again, the two home runs were the only runs of the inning.
Freshman infielder KJ Scobey was able to increase the lead for South Carolina, hitting his first collegiate home run in the bottom of the third inning to bring the Gamecocks up 5-2.
"It was definitely really cool to see that ball go over the fence. It wasn't really a relief, but I'm glad it happened," Scobey said.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs joined in on the home run festivities in the top of the fourth inning, with junior utility player Tanner Thomas hitting a two-run home run to cut the deficit to one, however, those would be the last runs scored by Gardner-Webb.
Nawrocki opened the bottom of the fourth with a double, and Kaczmar brought the Gamecocks up 6-4 thanks to an RBI single. Junior outfielder Nathan Hall had a hit to left center field to add three more runs to the Gamecocks' lead. Another RBI single, this time by Jones, brought the Gamecocks' 10th run of the game home to close out the bottom of the fourth.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, junior fielder Ethan Petry earned a walk, and freshman infielder Beau Hollins had an RBI single to put South Carolina up 12-4. A bases-loaded hit by pitch and a sacrifice fly gave the Gamecocks a 14-4 lead going into the seventh and last inning.
Offense explosion
The Gamecocks' offense was the main highlight of the evening, with the team having a combined 15 hits and five home runs.
Woita led the offense with three hits and two home runs, driving in two runs. Three other players, Hall, Petry and Jones, all followed with two hits, with Hall hitting his second home run of the season in the sixth.
Pitching picks things up
Junior pitcher Jackson Soucie had his second start of the season pitching two innings with a pair of strikeouts, giving up two hits and two runs on the evening. Junior pitcher Jarvis Evans Jr. took over in the third inning and had one strikeout with three hits and two runs in his two innings pitched. The last three innings saw five Gamecock pitchers finish the night, with a combined three strikeouts and one walk.
Currently, the pitching staff has 105 strikeouts through 76 innings after nine games this season with senior pitcher Mathew Becker and sophomore pitcher Jake McCoy leading the team with 17 each.
Rivalry week begins
The Gamecocks had a slow start defensively in the first inning despite Mainieri stressing the importance of the game against Gardner-Webb. With the win tonight, South Carolina will shift its focus to the weekend series, where the Gamecocks will take on in-state rival Clemson in the Palmetto Series.
"I know it's important to the fans, and it's important to me as the coach, and it's important to our players, and we're going to go out there this weekend and do everything we can to be successful," Mainieri said.
What's next?
The Gamecocks face No. 13 Clemson for a three-game series at Clemson starting on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. The game will stream live on ACC Network Extra.