Baseball Falls 5-1 to Wright State
Feb. 26, 2017
COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” Wright State left-hander Danny Sexton limited fourth ranked South Carolina to just one run on six hits and a pair of two-run frames in the third and eighth inning was enough to lift the twenty-fifth ranked Raiders over the Gamecocks in game three of the weekend series at Founders Park on Sunday. Carolina is now 5-3 on the year with Wright State moving to 3-3 for the season.
Sexton worked seven innings in his second start of the year and struck out four with two walks to earn the win and improve to 2-0 for the season. South Carolina right-hander Adam Hill suffered the loss and is 0-2 on the year. He allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits in five innings with two walks and six strikeouts.
The Gamecocks broke ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning when Jonah Bride delivered a RBI single up the middle to bring LT Tolbert in from second base.
The Raiders went ahead 2-1 with two outs in the third inning as Matt Morrow launched a two-out, two-run homer over the right field fence.
Wright State extended the lead to 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning. Seth Gray and Adrian Marquez opened the frame with singles and Kevin Whatley reached base on a throwing error by Gamecock shortstop Madison Stokes to load the bases with one out. Morrow would then drive in his third run of the game when it was ruled that Gamecock pitcher Adam Hill did not tag Morrow on a short hopper down the first base line. Hill would limie the damage though to just one run as he got Zach Weatherford to pop out and struck out JD Orr to keep the Gamecocks within two runs.
Wright State added some insurance runs in the top of the eighth to take a 5-1 lead as Seth Gray and Kevin Whatley each singled to get runners on first and second and Morrow drove in Gray with a single up the middle. Zach Weatherford followed Morrow with a single to left to score Whatley.
GAME CHANGER
Two two-run innings by the Raiders gave them a lead they would not relinquish.
KEY STAT
Wright State scored four of its five runs with two outs.
NOTABLES
– Matt Williams extended his hitting streak to six games as he went 1-for-1 after pinch hitting for Riley Hogan in the bottom of the eighth inning.
– Jonah Bride reached base in three of four plate appearances and went 2-for-3 with a RBI.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Chad Holbrook
“Congratulations to Wright State, like I said yesterday and Friday, I think they have a terrific team. I think they played a better game today than we did. That kid [Danny Sexton] pitched really well, we knew he was very good and he’s a great competitor. He threw the ball well, kept us off balance the whole game. Kudos to Wright State, they have a great team. I’m happy with my team in regards to coming out of this series with two victories and something to build upon. We’ll look back in April and May and say that’s a big series win, that’s how much I think of their team. We have to continue to get better and improve in a number of areas, but the ceiling for our team is very high. We’ll get to work and keep working. I have good kids and we will try to do our best to keep winning games and winning series and put ourselves in the best position we can be in.”
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks are back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 28 as they host Appalachian State at 4 p.m. at Founders Park. It will be broadcast live on SEC Network +. The game can be heard on the Gamecock IMG Network including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.”
