The Daily Gamecock

Baseball bounced by Terps

South Carolina shortstop Marcus Mooney (8) scores ahead of the tag of Maryland catcher Kevin Martir (32) on Sunday, June 1, 2014, in Columbia, S.C. Maryland won 10-1. (Jeff Blake/The State/MCT)
South Carolina shortstop Marcus Mooney (8) scores ahead of the tag of Maryland catcher Kevin Martir (32) on Sunday, June 1, 2014, in Columbia, S.C. Maryland won 10-1. (Jeff Blake/The State/MCT)

South Carolina’s roller-coaster ride of a season came to an unexpected halt Sunday night after its second loss to Maryland in as many days trounced them from the regional tournament.

A 10-1 drumming of the host Gamecocks (44-18, 18-12 SEC) advanced Maryland to the Super Regional round, where they will face Virginia in a best-of-three series.

The Regional loss means South Carolina will not advance to a Super Regional for the first time since 2009.

“They beat us tonight,” head coach Chad Holbrook said. “And you gotta tip your cap when you get beat 10-1 in your own park. Our guys, over the course of the season, gave me all they had. They handled adversity, they represented this program the right way.”

After losing 4-3 to the Terrapins (39-21, 15-14 ACC) Saturday night, the Gamecocks were forced to play with their backs against the wall first against Campbell, then versus Maryland again.

Freshman Wil Crowe dominated Campbell from the get-go Sunday afternoon, tossing a four-hit complete game shutout in his first postseason start. The 9-0 win sent Campbell home from the tournament and set up a rematch between South Carolina and Maryland later that night.

However, as good as things were for the Gamecocks early Sunday — dominant pitching as well as relentless hitting—the nightcap to South Carolina’s doubleheader would tell a different story.

South Carolina grabbed an early lead, throwing one run up on the board on a Kyle Martin RBI double, scoring Marcus Mooney from first base. The lead was the first lead the Gamecocks held over Maryland in either game, and would end up being the last.

All-SEC closer Joel Seddon garnered the start from Holbrook after South Carolina’s starting pitching staff was used Friday, Saturday and earlier Sunday.

“I just tried to go out there and treat it like any other outing,” Seddon said. “I didn’t really feel any extra pressure.”

Seddon allowed a leadoff single in each of the first two innings; however, both runners were thrown out by catcher Grayson Greiner attempting to steal second. After three innings, Seddon had allowed only two hits and had struck out four.

Seddon’s luck would run thin in the fourth inning. On their second time through the lineup, the Terrapins used two hits and a walk to push across two runs, taking a two-run lead.

The fourth inning would serve as a catalyst for the Maryland offense, as they would go on to score in every inning but the eighth.

The Terrapins chased Seddon with one out in the sixth inning — a career-long outing for Seddon — bringing a combined effort of Josh Reagan, Cody Mincey and Vince Fiori to get out of the inning.
South Carolina, spoiled by incredibly efficient starts by Crowe and Jordan Montgomery, ended up using six pitchers by the end of the night to stop the Terrapins from scoring.

The five runs given up by Seddon was one more than his previous season total of four.

“Our guys gave it all they had tonight,” Holbrook said. “We just couldn’t get any momentum going there after the first inning from a run production standpoint. There in the fifth and sixth when they got up four or five to one, it kind of deflated us a little bit.”

After hanging 13 hits on Campbell earlier in the day, the Gamecocks’ offense was stagnant and produced little outside of the first inning. In perhaps the most telling statistic of the game, South Carolina’s offense did not generate any production with runners in scoring position, going 0-7 in such cases. The SEC’s fifth-best offense in terms of batting average fared no better with runners on base, receiving only two hits in 15 chances throughout the night.

“I’m proud of my players, I’m proud of my team,” Holbrook said. “Yeah, it was a good season, but good is not good enough around here. I understand that. We gotta do better than good. That’s going to be the attitude around here as long as I’m the coach.”


Comments