Wynkoop leads USC to 2nd consecutive shutout
Freshman Jack Wynkoop had plenty of help from his offense on Tuesday night, but his start was the latest in a dominant streak for South Carolina pitchers.
In his second appearance this year, Wynkoop threw six shutout innings, retiring the first 16 batters he faced before allowing a hit with one out in the sixth inning. His start set the tone for the Gamecocks (9-2), who cruised to a 10-0 win over Ball State.
“My mindset was just to go out there, throw strikes, pound the zone, get ground balls, just like last time,” Wynkoop said.
The freshman pitched 5.1 shutout innings against Furman last Tuesday for his first collegiate win. USC has now shut out its opponent in two consecutive games and three of the last four.
“I don’t think we have dominant stuff from first or second-round guys,” coach Chad Holbrook said. “But we have guys that know how to pitch and change speeds and throw strikes and work fast. We’ve shown that works too.”
After Wynkoop left Tuesday’s game, three South Carolina relievers combined to allow one hit in the final three innings. Freshman Vince Fiori made his collegiate debut in the seventh, retiring three hitters on nine pitches.
Sophomore Joel Seddon threw 14 pitches and struck out two in the eighth. He had an ERA of 54.00 coming into the game, having retired one hitter but allowed four runs in two previous appearances. Holbrook said it’s always easier to pitch with a large lead but added that pitching coach Jerry Meyers was pleased with the way Seddon threw.
“Joel was disappointed with his last outing, and it was encouraging to see him get out there and get after it a little bit,” Holbrook said. “I thought he was very aggressive, and he let it loose and wasn’t tentative at all.”
South Carolina got on the board in the second inning. With two runners on and one out, sophomore center fielder Tanner English and junior left fielder Graham Saiko had back-to-back RBI singles. English scored later in the inning on a wild pitch.
After the Gamecocks scored again in the bottom of the third, sophomore shortstop Joey Pankake broke the game open with a 3-run home run in the bottom of the fourth.
The homer was Pankake’s fourth of the season and brings his RBI total for the year to eight in the 10 games he has played.
USC rounded out its scoring with one run in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
“The pitchers always give us a good chance to win,” Pankake said. “We just have to score more runs than the other team, and we’ll usually win.”
USC will look wrap up its series with Ball State at 4 p.m. today.
Injury note: Sophomore pitcher Jordan Montgomery will be out for at least two weeks after he was diagnosed with a stress-related injury in his throwing elbow. The pitcher hopes to be back in time for South Carolina’s series against Arkansas at the end of March.
Holbrook said he does not know yet how the injury will affect his weekend starting rotation. Wynkoop may earn a weekend start, but senior Adam Westmoreland and freshman Curt Britt are also in the mix.
Montgomery has a 3-0 record and an ERA of 0.95 in three starts so far this season.