February 8, 2002
Columbia, SC –
Yaron Peters drove in five runs and David Marchbanks allowed only one hit over six innings, with 11 strikeouts, Friday as South Carolina opened its baseball season with an 11-3 win over Charleston Southern.
The second game of the three game series is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., Saturday at Sarge Frye Field. Charleston Southern, which dropped a two game series last weekend at Florida, fell to 0-3.
Peters had a perfect day at the plate with four hits, including a two run first inning home run, and a walk. He drove in single runs with base hits in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings. Trey Dyson drove in three runs with a third inning sacrifice fly and a two run homer in the eighth inning. Justin Harris had three hits, including a pair of doubles, for the Gamecocks.
The only hit allowed by Marchbanks was a sixth inning leadoff single by Brian Richardson but Marchbanks picked him off first base. Marchbanks walked two batters, Brad Jones in the second inning and Chris Kellett in the fourth. He registered two strikeouts in the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings and one in the third.
Andy Viars, 0-2, allowed seven hits and six earned runs over the first five innings for Charleston Southern and was charged with the loss.
Freshman Aaron Rawl pitched two innings for South Carolina and allowed two hits, including a pinch hit eighth inning home run by Brandon Massey. Massey remained in the game and drove in all three Charleston Southern runs. His ninth inning single off Rico Bravo, the third Gamecock pitcher, drove in the final two Buccaneer runs. Bravo allowed three hits in one inning of work.
South Carolina scored three runs in the first and eighth innings, two each in the fourth and sixth, and one run in the third inning. The Gamecocks played errorless baseball while Charleston Southern committed two errors.
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 000 000 012 — 3 – 6-2
SOUTH CAROLINA 301 202 03x – 11-12-0
Viars, Rhodes (6) & Kellett. Marchbanks, Rawl (7), Bravo (9) & Powell, Greenwood (9). W-Marchbanks (1-0. L-Viars (0-2). Save-None. 2B-USC, Harris 2. HR-CSU-Massey (1), USC, Peters (1), Dyson (1).
