Feb. 21, 2015

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — Fifth-ranked South Carolina shut out Northeastern 6-0 on Saturday in game two of a doubleheader to clinch the series at Carolina Stadium.

The Gamecocks defeated the Huskies 10-1 in game one earlier on Saturday. Carolina extends its winning streak to five games to improve to 5-1 on the season. Northeastern falls to 2-3 with the loss.

Gamecock starting pitcher Wil Crowe and relievers Vince Fiori, Reed Scott and Tyler Haswell combined for the shutout, allowing just six hits and walking one while combining for nine strikeouts. Crowe worked four innings, allowing four hits and striking out seven. Fiori (1-0) then pitched the next two innings, giving up two hits and striking out one to earn the win.

Carolina tallied a season-high 12 hits on the night, including a 3-for-3 effort from sophomore Gene Cone and a 3-for-4 performance from junior Marcus Mooney. Freshman Hunter Taylor added two hits.

The Gamecocks struck first in the bottom of the third. Taylor and Mooney delivered back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. After junior Max Schrock drew a two-out walk to load the bases, senior Kyle Martin ripped a single to right field, driving in Taylor and Mooney to give Carolina a 2-0 lead.

Carolina tacked on a run in the fifth. Mooney doubled down the left-field line to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a single by Cone. Sophomore Jordan Gore then drove in Mooney with a sacrifice fly to left field to give the Gamecocks a 3-0 advantage.

Senior Connor Bright led off the sixth with a double to center field and later scored on a single by Taylor to push Carolina’s lead to 4-0.

The Gamecocks plated two more runs in the seventh aided by three Northeastern errors. Freshman Alex Destino got things started with a two-out single. Bright then reached on a Huskies fielding error. Pinch runner Patrick Harrington advanced to third on the same play on another Northeastern error. Freshman Madison Stokes then singled to right center to drive home Harrington, and Bright scored on the third Huskies error to give Carolina a 6-0 cushion.

Huskies starting pitcher Dustin Hunt (1-1) picked up the loss after surrendering four runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings on the mound.

Josh Treff and Pat Madigan each had two hits to lead Northeastern.

GAME CHANGER

Martin’s bases loaded two-out single in the third drove in a pair of runs to give the Gamecocks a 2-0 lead they would not relinquish.

KEY STAT

Crowe, Fiori, Scott and Haswell combined to shut out the Huskies, allowing just six hits and walking one while combining to strike out nine batters.

NOTABLE

• The Gamecocks finished the night with a season-high 12 hits. Carolina recorded 23 hits in the doubleheader.
• Taylor led off the third with his first career hit and later delivered his first career RBI on a single in the sixth.
• Cone has hit safely in all six games this year and has a seven-game hitting streak dating back to last season.
• Cone tied a career-high in hits with three. He also had three at Auburn on April 19, 2014.
• Schrock has a team-high 10 walks after drawing two in game two. It’s his fourth multi-walk game this season.

QUOTABLE

South Carolina head coach Chad Holbrook
“It was a really good day for us. Anytime you win two games is good, especially against a quality Northeastern team. I thought they had two quality arms that we saw from a velocity standpoint. I know they haven’t been outside much because of the weather they’ve had, so we’re probably a little bit ahead of them from a preparation standpoint. The stuff their pitchers Berger and Hill had, that was a good challenge for us, and I loved the way our players responded. I thought we played very clean baseball for the most part, no errors the first game. We had some good two out hits, we had some quality at bats, hit the ball hard, a couple home runs. I’m pleased with the way our team played today.”

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks will close out their series with Northeastern on Sunday. First pitch is set for noon at Carolina Stadium.