The USC Gamecocks Baseball Team or better known as the Yardcocks traveled to Athens over the weekend and broke out the brooms to sweep the Bulldogs by scores of 11-4, 5-0 and 8-7. I was on hand to witness some good baseball and here is my observations –
Breaking it Down…Going into the series some commentators had observed that South Carolina and Georgia were really close statistically when it comes to batting; the difference in the two teams is pitching. That was the case Friday night. Senior Blake Cooper took the mound for the Gamecocks and pitched 8 innings of 7 hit, 4 run baseball to put the Gamecocks in position to win. The offense would get going in the third inning when the Georgia pitching faltered. Haney led off the inning with a walk, then Wingo was hit by a pitch, then Merrifield walked, then Bradley walked and without the benefit of a hit South Carolina was leading. Then Ebert and Morales drove in runs with back to back hits. By the time the inning was over, the Gamecocks had 6 runs which would be all they would need.
Saturday’s game was rained out, so the teams played two 7-inning games on Sunday. South Carolina wanted to get the Sunday set off to a good start, and Sam Dyson ensured that they did. In one of his better performances in recent weeks, Dyson shut down the Georgia attack. He pitched a complete game allowing only 3 hits and scattered those hits over three different innings. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out 5. The Gamecock offense got solo home runs from Nick Ebert and Adrian Morales in route to scoring 5 in a quick afternoon opener.
The second Sunday game was by far the most exciting of the weekend and started off with the Gamecock offense going single, single, single, sacrifice fly and home run. 4 runs later it looked like the lead might hold up and the USC looked even better after Adrian Morales drove in Jackie Bradley, Jr in the top of the second to make it 5-0. Georgia responded with 2 runs in the 2nd and 3rd and chased starter Jay Brown from the game. South Carolina scored 2 more runs in the 4th to stretch the lead to 7-4. Georgia got a 3-run home run off Matt Price in the 5th to tie the game. Price got out of the inning, and Ethan Carter came in to relieve him.
The Gamecocks were unable to score any in the top of the 6th, and it looked like Georgia might seize the momentum and salvage a game from the series. Ethan Carter sat the Bulldogs down in order to keep the game tied at 7. Whit Merrifield led off the top of the 7th with a walk and then stole second to get into scoring position. Jackie Bradley, Jr. delivered a single to plate the go ahead run. The Gamecocks were unable to plate anymore runs and went to the bottom of the seventh with a tenuous one run lead. Georgia got back to back singles to begin the frame before sacrificing the runners into scoring position. The next UGA batter was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a double play. South Carolina wouldn’t need one. On an at bat where he couldn’t afford to give up a fly ball or a hit, Ethan Carter struck out Georgia’s catcher. He followed that up by inducing a fly ball to win the game and sweep the series.
Stars of the Series…Adrian Morales went 5 for 11 with 2 home runs and 6 driven in…Jackie Bradley, Jr. went 7 of 13 at the plate (including 4 for 4 on Sunday) and had a home run and drove in three…Blake Cooper got his 8th win of the year going 8 innings and giving up 7 hits and 4 runs while striking out 9…Sam Dyson pitched a complete game shutout giving up only three hits….Ethan Carter pitched two clutch innings on Sunday to close the game and get the win…Scott Wingo and Bobby Haney played tremendously defensively and frustrated the Bulldog batters all weekend.
What to take from the weekend… Good teams beat bad teams. It’s what makes them good. If you think your team is good and they don’t beat bad teams, you are probably wrong. South Carolina looked like a good team this weekend. They faced an inferior opponent and beat them soundly. That’s what they were supposed to do, and fans should appreciate a team going out and doing what they are expected to do. With the rain and delays they could have become distracted (by, say, the Athens Twilight Criterium circling their hotel), but they didn’t, and if they are going to finish the season the way they want to and the way the fans hope they can, that kind of focus will serve them well.
This and that…South Carolina improved to 32-8 overall and 14-4 in conference…The Gamecocks now lead Arkansas by a game for the overall SEC lead and lead Florida by two games for the SEC East lead…South Carolina moved up in the polls to #8 in the USAToday poll, #7 in Baseball America and #3 in Collegiate Baseball’s poll…Sam Dyson was named the SEC’s pitcher of the week for his performance on Sunday.
Up next…The Gamecocks don’t have a mid-week game because they are taking exams, and then they return to Carolina Stadium to play a weekend series against Alabama…Alabama is only 8-10 in conference but has and RPI of 17 and won’t be an easy team to beat.
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