Offensive explosion pushes Carolina past Furman
As he stepped off the podium following his postgame press conference this past Sunday, Ray Tanner said Steven Neff would likely be the starter for Tuesday’s midweek game against Furman. Tanner stressed South Carolina was going to have to rely on Neff the entire season, and it had to get him pitching well after a rough start.
Neff started in Tuesday’s 14-1 win over the Paladins. The junior lefty also got back on track. Pitching four shutout innings, Neff allowed only two hits and struck out a career-high seven batters en route to his first win of the season as part of a predetermined split for the No. 4 Gamecocks.
“It felt good to get back out there and start a game again,” Neff said. “[The] last outing, I had to put behind me and just start over again.”
Neff was edged out by Adam Westmoreland in the preseason for the Sunday starter’s spot and came out of the bullpen for the first six games of the season. In two appearances, Neff gave up three runs on six hits in 1.2 innings of work, creating some mild concern about a pitcher Tanner feels his team will need to throw well this spring.
“We met for a while yesterday — he and [pitching] coach [Jerry] Meyers and myself,” Tanner said. “We believe in him. He’s got a big-time arm. He’s fighting his way back from surgery a while back, he was really good before that and we’re hoping he can get back there.”
The concern was eased a bit Tuesday, and so was Neff’s crooked 16.20 ERA, which deflated to 4.76 after his outing.
“What I saw tonight was really good,” Tanner said. “He’d probably tell you that he’d like to make a couple more pitches than he made, but his stuff was really good. He’s going to get better as he goes. That was very encouraging to see.”
After being held relatively quiet through the first five innings of play, in which they scored two runs, one of which was forced in on a balk, on three hits, the Gamecocks (7-0) broke the game open with a nine-run sixth inning.
After a leadoff double by Jackie Bradley Jr., Christian Walker hit a two-run home run to left field off Furman’s Jay Friedman.
“He started me off with a first-pitch changeup,” Walker said of the at-bat. “After a pitcher starts off with an off-speed pitch for a ball, you assume the fastball’s coming. He threw it and left it up.”
The home run, Walker’s second of the season, pulled him into a tie with Bradley for the team lead and extended his hitting streak to 13 games, dating back to last year’s College World Series.
Moments later, after an intentional walk to pinch hitter Michael Roth loaded the bases with one out, the game began to unravel for the Paladins.
Adrian Morales came around to score on a wild pitch to Scott Wingo, who then walked to load the bases again. After an Adam Matthews pop-up to first base recorded the inning’s second out, the Furman pitching staff lost the plate, and by extension, any hopes of winning the game.
Four consecutive Gamecock batters walked, forcing in four runs in the process, before designated hitter Jake Williams singled to left, scoring two to cap the rally and give USC an 11-1 lead. Three more USC runs in the seventh brought the game to its final score.
Nate Smith started for Furman and took the loss, falling to 0-2 after allowing two runs in four innings. It was his second loss to an SEC team this season — Smith lost to Georgia 6-4 last week. Despite the decision, Tanner praised Smith, saying he made life tough for the Gamecock bats.
“We’d still be trying to score possibly if he was out there,” Tanner said. “He has an idea.”
Furman (4-5) scored its only run in the sixth inning when Will Owens scored on a wild pitch after doubling and moving to third on an error by Bradley in center field.
After Neff left the game, three USC pitchers combined to pitch the final five innings, allowing no earned runs on three hits and striking out five.
“Very happy about our pitching staff tonight,” Tanner said. “We were extremely competitive on the mound.”