No. 15 South Carolina dominates struggling ETSU pitching staff in run-rule win
No. 15 South Carolina took advantage of a struggling Buccaneers bullpen and pulled out a high-scoring 15-2 win on Wednesday. It’s the Gamecocks’ (30-14, 11-10 SEC) second straight run-rule victory.
Overall, the Gamecocks were aggressive at the plate ending the night with 14 hits. But the pitching did its job in helping the cause as well.
“Well great game for us obviously,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “Not sure if I’m more impressed with our pitchers or our hitters tonight, great to know that they both were as good as they were. That was a good team we played tonight, 27 wins coming in, hitting .320 plus, it’s a really good team. The fact that we won 15-2 and gave up three hits, had 14 ourselves just thrilled with what that team looked like tonight.”
Freshman left-hander Jake McCoy started the evening on the mound for the Gamecocks. As a younger arm in the Gamecocks bullpen, McCoy gave up two runs off of two hits in the first inning giving ETSU an early lead.
“The reason we pitched Jake is because Jake is an extremely talented freshman, not many lefty freshman in the country throw up to 96 MPH. He’s gotten progressively better and we just thought he deserved the opportunity,” Kingston said.
After McCoy’s night ended, Tyler Dean came in and gave up just one hit and no runs in one inning pitched.
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In the bottom of the first, South Carolina responded to ETSU’s two runs by scoring four runs to take the lead. Ethan Petry got the momentum started for the Gamecocks with a two-run home run sent 397 feet over the South Carolina bullpen.
The Buccaneer’s inconsistent pitchers struggled to keep up with the aggressive Gamecock bats. In 0.2 innings pitched out of relief, Tyler Fetterman gave up five hits and four runs with no strikeouts.
Similarly, Landon Crumbley gave up four runs off of three hits in just six batters faced. Throughout the game, South Carolina’s bats were dominating with 15 RBIs and four homers.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Gamecocks got down to business scoring eight runs to widen the gap. Firstly, Kennedy Jones sent one into the stands behind the left field wall for a three-run home run. He finished with four RBIs, continuing on his torrid pace from over the weekend.
Following him, Dalton Reeves crushed a ball 410 feet over the right field wall for a solo homer. After that, Cole Messina ended the inning with a three-run home run, extending the Gamecocks’ lead to 12.
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Messina had a commanding night with two hits and three RBIs. Correspondingly, Blake Jackson put up two hits scoring two runs. Reeves also had two hits with an RBI.
“”Im not going to jinx it and say we are peaking right now, I’m just going to say we are improving and evolving. I think that’s probably words; we’re evolving,” Kingston said. “We’re turning into what we thought we could be and I just want to see that continue. I know I say that a lot but we are improving and we are evolving and that’s what you want to see out of the good teams at the end of the year.”
Overall, the South Carolina bullpen produced seven strikeouts giving up just two runs in the first inning. Garrett Gainey was responsible for three of those strikeouts in the seventh inning to seal the deal.
Up Next: The Gamecocks travel to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Missouri Tigers. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday night and the game will be available on SECN+.
