Williams has big night against former team
After a two-game hiatus, South Carolina's bats appear to have woken up.
Behind standout performances from Jake Williams and Adrian Morales, the Gamecocks put an end to their hitting woes and returned to the winning side Wednesday night with an 8-4 victory over Wofford.
"It was a good win for us tonight," coach Ray Tanner said. "We got a few more hits than we've been getting lately."
Morales was one of few who found success at the plate during the losing streak and wasted no time staying that way against the Terriers. After neither side produced a hit through an inning and a half, the senior third baseman led off the second with a solo home run to left field, giving Carolina an early 1-0 lead.
The former junior college transfer provided another offensive spark in the fifth. Sporting a 2-0 advantage after a one-run third, Morales, who finished a season-high 3-3 while reaching base five times, followed a lead-off walk with a base hit up the middle, putting first baseman Christian Walker at third while advancing to second on the throw from the outfield. Moments later, Williams launched his third triple of the season into the left-center field gap, driving in both runners while putting the Gamecocks in front 4-0.
"If you're going to have a good year as a team, you've got to have your veteran guys be leaders in the clubhouse and between the lines," Tanner said. "I think it's apparent in most situations that those guys have got to perform for you. [Morales] is doing a nice job for us."
Williams, who transferred from Wofford in 2009, proved to be just getting started, however.
Coming to bat in the sixth after a Morales double advanced Walker to third, the junior outfielder made the Terriers pay once again with a single to right field, bringing both in to score and extending the lead to 7-0. Williams went on to finish 3-5 with a season-high four RBI, a fitting performance for his first meeting with his former team.
"It was interesting playing my old team," Williams said. "I still have a lot of good friends on that team, and having the game that I had, it was a great feeling. I didn't quite know how it would go, but it went really well."
On the other side of the ball, right-hander Colby Holmes proceeded to have a career-high night of his own. After lefty Steven Neff was lifted after one inning in a predetermined split, Holmes proceeded to work 5.1 innings while striking out four and holding Wofford hitless until the seventh.
"I was really pleased with our pitching, especially being able to stretch Colby out," Tanner said. "He's been waiting to get some innings, and he did a nice job for us. We gave Neff a little bit of work, and we'll bounce him back this weekend. Colby made a statement about getting some future innings."
It was after that hit, however, that the Terriers began to string together a comeback. After Holmes was lifted with the bases loaded, shortstop Matt Moore put WU on the board with a two-RBI single off lefty Bryan Harper. The momentum continued in the eighth when third baseman Josh McKinney brought in two more with a hit off Logan Munson. Bringing in closer Matt Price in the ninth, however, the Gamecocks managed to withstand the late rally, hanging on for the 8-4 win.
"We play 56 regular-season games, and they're all important," Tanner said. "You don't get any exhibition games. They all count, whether you're in the league or out of the league. You want to win as many as you can. We bounced back tonight and got a win."