South Carolina took the first game of the weekend series against Penn State by a score of 7-1. Sophomore right-hander Clarke Schmidt turned in a stellar outing to pick up the win.
Schmidt erased any lingering questions about his readiness to take over as South Carolina's Friday starter. From the first pitch Schmidt was in control, inducing weak contact when necessary while also managing to miss bats. The Nittany Lions failed to put any sort of pressure on Schmidt, allowing him to dictate the pace of at-bats while also giving him the opportunity to mix in all of his pitches.
Schmidt emphasized that he was working on controlling the tempo on the mound, stating that, "I think as a pitcher you are kind of running things, you have got to set the tone early ... When you're throwing strikes and working ahead in counts and getting those quick innings you need, it kind of keeps your defense on their toes."
Schmidt completed seven innings of work for the first time in his career, surrendering just one hit and one walk. Through his first two outings he has allowed only one earned run.
Last season South Carolina didn't receive much in the way of offensive production from their primary catchers, but that doesn't appear to be a problem this year. Coach Holbrook now has two big bats behind the plate in John Jones and Chris Cullen.
Jones got the start at designated hitter and picked up four hits and four RBIs. In the first inning he deposited a hanging breaking ball in the left field bleachers to get South Carolina on the board. Through six games Jones has posted video-game numbers, hitting .593 with 13 RBIs in six games. Cullen also continued to look solid, making hard contact and picking up an RBI single in the second inning.
In general the Gamecocks are really clicking offensively so far, averaging approximately 8.7 runs per game. Every starter picked up at least one hit today.
South Carolina's pitchers carried a shutout into the ninth inning when Penn State's Jim Haley hit a home run with two outs off of Colie Bowers. It was Haley's first career home run. Bowers did manage to pick up six strikeouts in just two innings.
The Gamecocks will look to clinch the series victory Saturday at 2 p.m.