April 22, 2008
Greenville, S.C. – Phil Disher’s three run-homer in the top of the ninth inning broke a 2-2 tie and helped lead South Carolina to a 5-3 win over Furman on Tuesday evening in front of a packed crowd of 6,241 fans at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C. Carolina improves to 30-11 on the year while the loss drops Furman to 23-15 on the year. The Gamecocks have won 10 of the last 11 contests. South Carolina returns to action at home at Sarge Frye Field on Wednesday night hosting Wofford with first pitch scheduled for 7 pm.
With the score deadlocked at two apiece in the top of the ninth inning, the Gamecocks made their move against the Paladins. Whit Merrifield was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Justin Smoak laced a double down the left field line to put runners on second and third base. With one out and Furman closer Nick Karow summoned to the mound for the Paladins, Phil Disher stepped to the plate and drilled the first pitch from Karow to left center for a three-run home run to give Carolina a three-run lead. It was Disher’s team-leading 14th of the season.
Furman didn’t go away though against Gamecock closer Brandon Todd in the bottom of the ninth. Todd set down the first two Furman hitters but then gave up back-to-back doubles to Bobby Hubbard and Ryan Lee followed by a single from Reese Wade that scored a Furman run and brought the winning run to the plate in third baseman Justin Harrison. With a 3-2 count, Todd coaxed Harrison into groundout to shortstop Reese Havens, preserving the Gamecock victory.
Gamecock reliever Parker Bangs earned the win out of the bullpen with 0.2 scoreless innings and a strikeout. He is 3-1 this season. Furman reliever Ian Parry suffered the loss and is 3-2 on the year. He allowed three runs, all earned, on two hits in 3.1 innings. Todd earned his fifth save of the season for Carolina.
Furman held the early advantage with a pair of runs against the Gamecocks in the third inning. Jay Jackson would get things started for the Paladins with a solo homer to left center field. Matt Hemingway then doubled, advanced to third base on a sacrifice from Joey Rodgers and scored on a RBI courtesy of Marcus Rose.
It would remain 2-0 until the top of the sixth inning when the Gamecocks tied it at 2-2 on a two-run homer from Scott Wingo. Andrew Crisp would lead off the inning and reach base on a hit by pitch. With the count full to Wingo, the freshman second baseman drilled a homer over the left field wall in left field for his third homer of the year.
Carolina starting pitcher Nick Godwin was solid in 7.1 innings of work despite a no-decision. He allowed just two runs on three hits while striking out a career-high 10 batters. The 10 K’s also was a season-high by a Gamecock pitcher this year. He walked just one batter. Godwin also had two pickoffs at first base.
South Carolina and Furman each finished with six hits on the night. Disher led the Gamecocks with two. Justin Smoak extended his hitting streak to 15 games with Reese Havens also extending his consecutive hits streak to 11 games on the year. Carolina also had a bright spot with the return of Andrew Crisp to the starting lineup. Crisp made his first start since suffering a back injury from a collision he had in the Sunday game at Auburn, over a week ago.
