All-Around Effort Lifts Baseball Past Furman
April 25, 2018
GREENVILLE, S.C. ââ’¬” Jonah Bride had four hits, Carlos Cortes drove in four runs and Carmen Mlodzinski struck out seven in seven innings of work as the University of South Carolina baseball team defeated Furman, 10-2, Tuesday night (April 27) to extend its winning streak to four games.
The Gamecocks had 17 hits on the night, a season best, and scored in six of the nine innings. Bride was 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI, while TJ Hopkins went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Cortes, Noah Campbell, Madison Stokes and LT Tolbert had two hits apiece.
Mlodzinski posted career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts to earn his second win of the season. Ridge Chapman struck out the side in the eighth and Corey Stone pitched a scoreless ninth to wrap up the victory.
The Gamecocks scored a run in the first as Bride brought in Cortes with a single to left. Stokes then belted his second home run in Fluor Field this season, a solo shot over the Green Monster in left, in the third, giving Carolina a 2-0 lead.
Furman scored a pair of runs in the fourth, but the Gamecocks came right back in the fifth as Bride doubled down the line in left to score Campbell. South Carolina made it 5-2 in the sixth as Cortes brought in Campbell with a single up the middle and Stokes flied out to left to plate Hopkins.
The Gamecocks added insurance on a Jacob Olson sacrifice fly in the seventh, then scored four runs in the eighth, three from Cortes’ blast to right field, his 10th of the season.
GAME CHANGER
Carmen Mlodzinski tied a season-high for a Carolina pitcher, going seven innings in the win over the Paladins. He struck out seven, allowing three hits and two runs with three walks to earn his second win of the campaign.
KEY STAT
Carolina set a season high with the 17 hits, four off the bat of Jonah Bride, in the win. Eight different Gamecocks had hits in the victory.
NOTABLE
- Bride set a season-high and tied a career high with his four hits in tonight’s win.
- The game’s start was delayed 1:18 due to rain in Greenville.
- TJ Hopkins is now 10-for-20 (.500) since coming back to the starting lineup on April 20 after missing time due to injury.
- Ridge Chapman, pitching for the first time since April 8, struck out the side in the eighth inning of tonight’s win.
- Carlos Cortes now leads the team with 10 home runs and is only two away from his freshman total of 12.
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks visit Nashville, Tenn., for a three-game series at Vanderbilt beginning Friday night (April 27) at 6:30 p.m. CDT (7:30 p.m. EDT).
