March 15, 2005
Spartanburg, S.C. – Second ranked South Carolina rallied from a two-run deficit to score six runs in the sixth inning and hold on for a 6-2 win at Wofford on Tuesday evening at Russell C. King Field. Carolina improves to 16-1 on the season while the loss drops Wofford to 9-11 on the year.
Down 2-0 entering the sixth inning, the Gamecocks sent 12 batters to the plate to take a four-run lead. The Gamecocks took advantage of four walks, a hit batter and two Wofford errors. Carolina loaded the bases with no outs against Wofford reliever Lance Player on a walk to Jon Willard, single by Michael Campbell and walk to Brendan Winn. The Terriers changed pitchers but the Gamecock rally continued as Joey Friddle knocked a RBI single to left field off Wofford closer Charles Vartanian to score two runs and tie the game at 2-2.
After a Cory Vanderhook walk loaded the bases for the second time, USC outfielder Davy Gregg knocked a short grounder to first baseman David Long, who mishandled the grounder before throwing home allowing Brendan Winn to score and giving Carolina a one-run lead. With the bases still loaded, Carolina increased the lead to 4-2 on a walk to Steven Tolleson scoring Friddle. USC would score two more runs on the second fielding error by Wofford as third baseman Adam Wood threw wide of home plate on a force play scoring Gregg and Vanderhook. Three of the six runs for Carolina were earned in the sixth inning.
Carolina reliever Conor Lalor earned the win for the Gamecocks and is now 1-0 on the season. Lalor worked one 1/3 innings and allowed no runs on one hit. The Gamecock relief corps of Lalor, Harris Honeycutt, Jeff Jeffords and Wynn Pelzer limited the Terriers to one run on six hits in seven innings of relief with nine strikeouts including a career-high four from Jeffords.
Wofford got to USC starter Arik Hempy early with a run in the first inning. Adam Wood knocked a two-out single to left field that scored Anthony DiNardo and gave the Terriers a 1-0 lead. In his first start of the season and second appearance of the year, Hempy worked two innings and allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout and a walk. The Terriers increased the lead to 2-0 in the fourth inning on a RBI double by Brandon Waring. Carolina broke up Cole’s no-hit bid in the fifth inning on a Steven Tolleson single and loaded the bases with two outs. Cole was able to get out of the jam though as Steve Pearce lined out to left preserving the two-run Wofford cushion.
Wofford finished the night with eight hits to Carolina’s five including 2-for-5 performances by Scott Holloway and Adam Wood. Five different USC players tallied hits including Brendan Winn, who increased his hitting streak to nine games tying his career-high set last year.
South Carolina opens up the conference season this weekend with a three-game series against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Sarge Frye Field. First pitch for the SEC opener is set for Friday evening at 7 p.m. Live Gametracker stats and live audio will also be available on www.uscsports.com and the game will be broadcast on the South Carolina Radio Network with Mike Morgan and Tommy Moody calling the action.
