Despite being once again plagued with injuries, the South Carolina baseball team was able build off strong pitching from its starter and get timely hits to get the 6-1 win over Tennessee in the first game of the three-game series.
Adam Hill returned to the mound after getting last week at Georgia off due to some shoulder tendinitis. Hill threw five innings of no-hit ball, striking out four but walked four batters. It wasn't his best outing but both him and head coach Mark Kingston Kingston said the biggest thing was just getting back on the mound and not elevating his pitch count.
"With him having the week off, the plan was to not have him throw 100 plus pitches, we wanted to work him back in intelligently," Kingston said. He obviously didn't have the dominant stuff in terms of strikeouts, only four strikeouts in five innings, but he look good enough that he would be able to go out there and be successful."
Kingston said after the game that he felt like having Hill back out on the mound was motivating to the rest of the team and that it gave them more confidence having their ace start things out well.
That proved true during this game, after Hill sent the Vols down in order the Gamecocks were able to score early. They started the game by being smart at the plate, scoring their first run of the night without getting a hit. LT Tolbert was hit by a pitch, then Jonah Bride drew a walk and Hunter Taylor reached first on an error to load the bases with two outs. Chris Cullen walked in a run to get South Carolina on the board early.
Riley Hogan followed with their first hit of the night, a big two-RBI single to center to make it a 3-0 game after the first inning.
With the Noah Campbell, TJ Hopkins and Madison Stokes out of the top of the lineup due to injuries, Bride moved into the cleanup spot and found a lot of success at the plate. He would finish the night 3-4 with a walk and three runs scored. Despite not being the typical cleanup hitter, Kingston said Bride getting on base and making it home was important in Thursday's contest.
"At this point, with those three guys out, he gives you quality at-bats and sometimes that's all you need," Kinston said. "When you get guys in scoring position you just need quality at-bats and he's going to give that to you... He ended up actually scoring three runs and didn't drive in any so that's a little atypical for a cleanup hitter but at the end of the day we just need as many quality at-bats as we can get right now."
Cullen and Hogan had all five of the Gamecocks RBIs, making the most of their opportunities to start and help the team. Hogan's hit in the first was a battle, as he forced Tennessee to throw eight pitches and found a two-strike, two-out hit to send into center to plate those two runs. Cullen found similar success in the third, coming in with bases loaded and ripped a two-RBI single into the same spot. Kingston said he needs to see players like Hogan and Cullen to continue to step up during this stretch if they want to win.
"With the condition we are health-wise right now, we're going to need guys to step up that have played smaller roles throughout the season," Kingston said. "Guys are getting opportunities maybe that weren't early in the season because of these injuries so we have to keep trying to win no matter who's out there."
Game two between South Carolina (15-11, 2-5 SEC) and Tennessee (17-10, 4-3 SEC) is Friday with first pitch at 7 p.m. The Gamecocks will send Cody Morris to the mound, hoping to secure their first SEC series win since sweeping Tennessee March 17-19 of last season.