April 12, 2011
Charleston, S.C. – The Citadel freshman left-hander Logan Cribb was impressive in his first career start as he limited third ranked South Carolina to just eight hits as the Bulldogs defeated the Gamecocks 2-0 on Tuesday evening in non-conference action at Joe Riley Park. The Citadel improves to 13-20 while Carolina drops to 26-6 on the year.
Things did get tight for Cribb though in the ninth inning as Carolina loaded the bags on a base hit by Brady Thomas and walks to Robert Beary and Evan Marzilli. With no outs, The Citadel went to right-hander TJ Clarkson, who struck out pinch hitter Michael Roth, coaxed Peter Mooney into a pop up and finished the game with a ground out against Scott Wingo to preserve the victory for The Citadel.
Cribb was effective as limited Carolina to just one extra base hit on the evening out of the eight hits for the Gamecocks. He had two walks and three strikeouts. He is now 1-1 on the year. In his first start since March 19 vs. Georgia, Gamecock junior left-hander Steven Neff worked 3.1 innings and allowed two runs on two hits and suffered the loss. He is now 2-1 on the year. Clarkson picked up his first save of the year for the Bulldogs.
The Citadel would jump ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Brad Felder led off with a single to right-center, was sacrificed over by Drew DeKerlegand and reached third on a balk issued by Neff. Felder then scored the first run of the game on Matt Simonelli’s RBI ground out to Scott Wingo at second base. The Bulldogs increased the lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning. William Ladd singled with one out and would score on Justin Mackert’s two-out RBI single to left field past a diving Robert Beary at third base.
Carolina would have chances but could not plate home a run against Cribb. In the sixth inning, Scott Wingo doubled to lead off the frame and advanced to third base on a deep fly out by Bradley to center field. However, he would be stranded there as Christian Walker grounded out to the third baseman and Adam Matthews grounded out to the first baseman. The seventh inning saw Thomas lead off with a single but Robert Beary grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. With two outs, Carolina threatened as Evan Marzilli walked and pinch hitter Greg Brodzinski singled. Again, Cribb battled out of the jam as Peter Mooney popped up to the third baseman to end the inning.
Brady Thomas tallied a career-high four hits. His previous high was three, six times in his career, the last was Feb. 25 vs. Southern Illinois. Gamecock senior second baseman Scott Wingo played in his 217th career game on Tuesday evening tying him for seventh on the all-time list at Carolina with Derick Urquhart (1995-96-97-98).
Before the game, it was announced the Gamecock junior outfielder Jake Williams has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules.
South Carolina returns home for a three-game series vs. top ranked Vanderbilt beginning on Friday night at 7 p.m. Saturday’s game is also at 7 p.m. and will be televised on CSS. Sunday’s series finale is at 1 p.m. and will be televised live on CSS. All three games can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network and at GamecocksOnline.com. ESPN3.com will have Saturday and Sunday’s games.
