March 13, 2002
COLUMBIA, SC –
Garris Gonce drove in five runs with a pair of homers Tuesday night and Jon Coutlangus had four hits to pace fourth ranked South Carolina to a 15-2 college baseball win over Purdue.
Junior left hander Steven Bondurant, 1-0, limited the Boilermakers to one hit and struck out six in six innings to earn his first career win. Bondurant walked two. Purdue starter Billy Lester, 0-3, was charged with the loss. South Carolina improved to 15-2 while the Boilermakers dropped to 2-10.
Gonce hit two run home runs in the third and seventh innings and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. He has nine home runs this season. Trey Dyson also homered for the Gamecocks, his fourth of the year. Dyson’s homer followed the first by Gonce and was the fifth time this season that South Carolina has hit back to back homers. Gonce has been involved in all five. Coutlangus returned to the lineup after a one game illness. He beat out three infield hits and tripled in four at bats.. Yaron Peters had three hits including a pair of doubles. Justin Harris, Drew Meyer, Gonce and Brian Buscher had two hits each for the Gamecocks. South Carolina collected 19 hits in the game.
Purdue had six hits, two of them by catcher David Harrell. Harrell doubled to lead off the fourth inning for the only hit allowed by Bondurant. Harrell also singled in the ninth inning when Purdue loaded the bases with three hits but did not score. The two Boilermaker runs, both unearned, came in the eighth on a Gamecock error, a passed ball and two hits.
South Carolina scored once in the first and second innings, four times in the third, seven in the sixth, and two in the seventh. South Carolina, which has won six consecutive games, closes out a seven game home stand Wednesday night before opening Southeastern Conference play with a three game weekend series at Mississippi State.
PURDUE 000 000 020 — 2 – 6 -1
SOUTH CAROLINA 114 007 20x — 15-19-1
Lester, Karpel (3), Skripsky (6), Byrnes (7), Herman (8) and Harrell. Bondurant, Bravo (7), Donald (8), Whetstone (9) and Powell, Greenwood (8). W-Bondurant (1-0). L-Lester (0-3). Save-None. 2B-PU, Harrell, USC, Peters 2, Harris, Buscher. 3B-USC, Coutlangus. HR-USC, Gonce 2(9), Dyson (4).
