Baseball . April 7, 2018

Baseball Evens Kentucky Series with 15-1 Road Victory

April 7, 2018

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sophomore Cody Morris tied a career high with 10 strikeouts and the University of South Carolina baseball team’s bats were on fire, belting out 15 hits in a 15-1 win over No. 9 Kentucky Saturday night (April 7) at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Morris pitched six innings, allowing just three hits and a run with the 10 strikeouts and two walks while picking up his sixth win of the year. Sawyer Bridges earned his first save of the season, pitching the final three innings with a pair of strikeouts.

Hunter Taylor started the scoring parade in the second as his double to left center brought in Jonah Bride. The Gamecocks then exploded for six runs in the third inning as Bride and Taylor each had home runs to left field. Bride’s was a three-run shot with Taylor’s a two-run blast.

Kentucky scored a run in the bottom of the third but the Gamecocks answered in the fifth with three runs on a solo home run from LT Tolbert and a two-run double by Jacob Olson.

Matt Williams made it 12-1 Carolina with an RBI in the sixth, then he singled home a run in the eighth. Taylor drove in his fourth and fifth runs of the game in the eighth with a double down the line in right.

Taylor tied his career high with five RBI, going 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored. Justin Row had four hits, a career high, and two runs scored on the night, while Olson and Williams had two hits apiece. Bride brought in three runs and extended his hit streak to 10 games in the win.

GAMECHANGER

Cody Morris set the tone with his performance on the mound, tying a career high with 10 strikeouts in the win.

KEY STAT

Carolina scored runs in five of the nine innings, putting crooked numbers on the board in the third, fifth, sixth and eighth frames.

NOTABLE

Carolina earns its first win away from Founders Park this season with Saturday’s victory over Kentucky.
Carolina earns its third win over a nationally-ranked opponent this season. The Gamecocks also defeated No. 14 Clemson (March 2) and No. 2 Florida (March 17) this season.
Jonah Bride extended his hit streak to 10 games, while Justin Row has a six-game hitting streak.
Row broke his previous career high of three hits in a game, which was recently set against Davidson on March 27.
Hunter Taylor had five RBI, which ties a career high. He also had five RBI on Feb. 21 against Winthrop, which included a grand slam.
Cody Morris tied his career high in innings pitched (6.0) and strikeouts (10) in tonight’s win.
Carlos Cortes hit leadoff for the first time in his career. He has hit in every part of the order except for ninth this season.
Sawyer Bridges earned his first career save, tying a career high in innings pitched with three.
Every Gamecock starter reached base in tonight’s win with eight of the nine getting hits.