No. 6 South Carolina (17-6) limped into Saturday’s matchup against Missouri, (18-5) desperately needing a spark to ignite the offense.
The Gamecocks were coming off back-to-back losses for the first time all season due to a lack of production on offense. Accordingly, head coach Chad Holbrook made lineup changes Saturday, such as moving struggling leadoff hitter Gene Cone down to seventh in the lineup.
The sophomore centerfielder has been struggling lately, despite beginning the season with a 20-game on-base streak.
South Carolina scored two runs in the second inning and clung to a 2-0 lead until Missouri scored runs in the seventh and eighth innings to tie the game, 2-2. The Gamecocks worked out of a jam in the bottom of the ninth and scored a run on an RBI infield single by senior leftfielder Elliott Caldwell in the tenth inning, but gave up two runs in the bottom on the inning to lose, 4-3.
Defense plays to potential
The Gamecocks played the type of defense that they’ve been striving for all season. Not only did the team averaging well over one error per game play 10 innings without one, but South Carolina also had multiple outstanding plays in the field.
Caldwell moved to left field in place of
junior Max Schrock and kept the Gamecocks in the game with a
diving catch and a great toss to throw out the potential winning-run with the score
tied in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Pitchers once again the victim
Junior pitcher Jack Wynkoop pitched 7.1 innings for the Gamecocks, allowing seven hits and two runs; one that was scored after Wynkoop’s day was finished.
Sophomore relief pitcher Taylor Widener took the loss, his first of the season. Widener has not looked as sharp as of late, but he has consistently worked out of jams when called upon.
In their last three games, Gamecock hitters have scored just four earned runs, not counting extra innings. A solid pitching staff has recently fallen victim to anemic hitting.
Up Next
South Carolina plays one more game at Missouri, hoping to hand the Tigers their first SEC loss, while the Gamecocks look to improve to 4-2 in conference play. Freshman Clarke Schmidt (2-0), who has pitched well this season, will take the mound to face junior Peter Fairbanks. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 pm.