Postseason baseball will continue to be played at Founders as South Carolina defeated UNC Wilmington 10-5 on Tuesday to win the regional title.
With Oklahoma State’s win over Clemson Sunday night, the Tigers were eliminated, meaning the Gamecocks will now host a Super Regional. The Cowboys will travel to Columbia to start a best-of-three series on Saturday.
The regional championship game was postponed on Monday, but that meant a much needed extra day of rest for all pitchers. UNCW announced Sunday night they would start Ryan Foster, who Friday threw a complete game with over 110 pitches. The Gamecocks sent Taylor Widener to the mound, who threw 48 pitches in Friday’s contest. Also getting that extra day of rest meant Clarke Schmidt, Braden Webb, Josh Reagan and Reed Scott would be more than ready to go out of the bullpen.
Widener did what he needed to Tuesday by going four innings to get the game going. He held the Seahawks to just one run on three hits while striking out four. The Gamecocks went to the pen for Regan, Schmidt and Webb, who combined for four runs on seven hits over five innings.
The Gamecocks didn’t get off to the strong start they had the rest of the weekend as the Seahawks took a 1-0 lead in the third. South Carolina bounced back in the fourth, scoring five runs to take the lead and never lost it.
In the sixth inning, South Carolina added to their total with a Madison Stokes single that drove Alex Destino in. A few batters later and with the bases loaded, Gene Cone was walked, forcing Stokes home for the second score of the inning.
After his big weekend, D.C. Arendas got the start at second and did not disappoint. He blasted a solo shot — his fifth of the year — and extended the Gamecocks’ lead to 8-1.
Stokes led the offense, going 3-4 with 3 RBI. He continued to produce with runners in scoring position.
With two on in the top of the ninth, the Gamecocks were looking to get some insurance runs as UNCW had tried to close the gap. Chad Holbrook put in John Jones, who has been in a major slump, looking to tack on some runs. Jones knocked a double to center to score two and seal the win. This was Jones’ first double since March 31, which could boost his confidence advancing into the tournament.
South Carolina will host Oklahoma State in the Supers, with the first game Saturday at 3 p.m. This will be South Carolina’s 12th Supers appearance. The Cowboys will have a few extra days rest, but it shouldn’t make much of a difference. Schmidt only went one inning on Tuesday, so he should be ready to go to make the Saturday start, although he has had some recent struggles.
Oklahoma State also has a good starting rotation. At the Clemson regional, their starters all went at least six innings and gave up one run or less. The Columbia Super Regional will be a phenomenal pitching matchup, and with the Gamecocks heating up again on offense, this will most likely be a tight series.