Offense stumbles as Gamecocks fail to rally from deficit
While freshman left fielder Tanner English acknowledged that Tuesday night’s game against College of Charleston was frustrating, he also said that South Carolina needs to employ a short memory for the loss.
“Baseball’s a humbling game,” English said. “You win some, you lose some. You’ve just got to take it and keep working.”
Trailing late in the game, South Carolina’s rally came up short, as the Cougars escaped with the 4-3 victory. The Gamecocks had beaten the Cougars earlier this season in Charleston, 7-0.
In the bottom of the eighth, South Carolina was able to cut CofC’s 4-1 lead with a two-run rally, but stranded runners on first and second with no outs after the top of the order was unable to reach base. In the ninth, the Gamecocks got a single with two outs, but catcher Grayson Greiner’s fly out on the next at-bat ended the comeback.
The night started poorly for the Gamecocks (27-11), as left-hander Nolan Belcher gave up a leadoff double that was followed by a home run to give CofC a 2-0 lead. Belcher then gave up a solo homer in each of the next two innings, giving the Cougars a comfortable 4-0 lead.
“I felt like I was getting [my offspeed pitches] over, but they just kept hitting it,” Belcher said. “I just didn’t make enough quality pitches down in the zone. Whenever I made a mistake, they made me pay for it.”
Belcher finished with one of the stranger pitching lines of the season, as he surrendered all four runs in 2.2 innings pitch, but also struck out five. Pitchers Patrick Sullivan, Adam Westmoreland and Evan Beal combined to hold the Cougars scoreless for the rest of the game.
Offensively for the Gamecocks, USC was unable to get anything going, as it plated three runs and stranded 13. The Gamecocks had their fair share of opportunities, as they had the bases loaded in the fourth, but were unable to plate a run. Furthermore, CofC’s pitchers hit five batters and walked three, putting eight runners on base without a hit.
“I know Belcher got off to a bad start, but I got the guys together in the dugout and said, ‘OK, they got out there and hit a couple long balls. Now we’ve got to win 7-6 or 8-7. We’ll get our bullpen to hold them tight,’” USC coach Ray Tanner said. “[The bullpen] did a super job, but we didn’t get enough runs.”
Runs have been at a premium for USC all season, as it has stranded 135 runners in SEC play, but in the series against Mississippi State, the Gamecocks had one of their stronger offensive outputs of the season, not scoring less than five runs in a game.
Though Tanner addressed the performance with the team after the game, he said it’s one where USC has to move on, as credit needs to go to CofC’s starting pitcher, Ryan West, who Tanner said was the difference in the game. West pitched six innings, surrendering three hits and one run, while walking just two and striking out seven.
“He’s a good pitcher,” Tanner said. “He’s been a mainstay for those guys in the middle of the week and he’s pitched a lot of good games for them. He threw pretty well for us before. He’s a good one and tonight he was better than our hitters ... Certainly, I’m disappointed with my guys, but not because I didn’t think West was good — I thought he was very good.”
Though it is a loss that the Gamecocks will look to forget, it was a bittersweet one for Tanner, who lost to his former assistant of six years, CofC head coach Monte Lee, who’s secured his first win against Tanner in his four year coaching stint.
“I’m disappointed we lost, but I’m not disappointed in who we lost to,” Tanner said. “He does it the right way. He’s put together a great program down there, and I’m proud of what he’s been able to do ... I hate to lose, but there’s a lot of guys that I hate to lose to a lot more than I hate to lose to Coach Lee.”