Solid pitching helps South Carolina earn fifth straight win

With a temperature of 36 degrees at first pitch, the weather was certainly a factor in South Carolina’s 7-2 win over Queens University on Wednesday night.

Despite the chilly conditions, South Carolina’s bullpen looked incredibly strong and well-rounded in helping the program to a 5-0 start.

“I know you all think I’m crazy for insisting on this playing today. The conditions were really, really tough, but I thought we played a tremendous game in all phases. Obviously, our pitching was outstanding again. We hit a lot of balls hard,” head coach Paul Mainieri said. “The bigger factor besides the cold and the rain was the wind blowing in.”

Nathan Hall continued his hitting dominance from his leadoff spot, going 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored.

An RBI single in the bottom of the first by Ethan Petry got South Carolina on the board first. Petry flew out to deep center field late in the game, hitting the ball 113 miles per hour off the bat, but wind held kept the ball in the park.

The Gamecocks’ bats started slowly. Cayden Gaskin recorded two strikeouts at the plate in two at bats, and Dalton Mashore recorded one of his own.

Things heated up late in the sixth when South Carolina put two more runs on the board. KJ Scobey and Henry Kaczmar both recorded RBIs.

Junior left handed pitcher Jackson Soucie ended his start on the mound after three innings, holding Queens to no runs and just one hit with two strikeouts.

“I thought he did a really fantastic job,” Mainieri said. “You know, he didn’t pitch at all this fall, and so we’re kind of just now learning about him. He came back after the holidays and was healthy and was throwing the ball good, and I’ve got a lot of confidence in him. I thought he made a lot of big pitches. You know, just throwing a strike on a full count pitch is a big pitch, and he did that several times.”

Freshman Ryder Garino replaced Soucie on the mound for only his second appearance this season and dealt five strikeouts. Garino maintained his 0.00 ERA by holding Queens to no runs scored and he gave up just one hit in 11 batters faced.

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Sophomore Ashton Crowther was next up on the mound and was responsible for two of the Royals’ runs. He threw two strikeouts through 1.2 innings pitched.

Sophomore Parker Marlatt entered the game, facing just four batters and recording one strikeout.

Former weekend starter Roman Kimball finished the night for South Carolina and recorded three outs in three batters faced.

“I think Terry [Rooney] has done a phenomenal job with all of them. And you know, Crowther did a really good job, until he left the two left handed hitters getting on base here and the eighth inning up until then, I thought he did a great job. Obviously, Garino did phenomenal,” Mainieri said. “I thought Jackson Soucie did a super job starting the game, and it was good to get Roman out there. I thought he threw the ball good.”

Junior lefty Joey Ruller started on the mound for Queens and was able to limit South Carolina’s hits despite giving up a run in the first. He struck out five and did not surrender a walk through five innings.

Right handed sophomore pitcher Jack Renaud replaced Ruller on the mound but could not keep the pressure on South Carolina, giving up two runs in six batters faced.

Queens struggled to close out the game. Sophomore right-hander Derek Westfall gave up two hits in an inning pitched, and sophomore righty Jack Booker only recorded one out while giving up four runs and two hits.

To end the night, Brodie McFadden faced four batters, giving up just one hit and no runs.

Up next: South Carolina will host Milwaukee in a three-game weekend series at Founders Park. Game one will take place February 21, with first pitch set for 4:00 p.m.

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