March 4, 2009
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina pounded out 12 hits with junior first baseman Nick Ebert going 2-for-4 with his first career home run as well as two RBI and junior outfielder DeAngelo Mack adding three hits as well as the 18th ranked Gamecocks defeated Charleston Southern 6-4 on Wednesday evening at Carolina Stadium. South Carolina is now 6-0 on the year while the loss drops Charleston Southern to 4-5.
The Gamecocks used a predetermined split with five pitchers seeing action including starting pitcher Jay Brown. The Carolina right-hander saw his first action on the mound since the early portion of the 2007 season and earned his first win of the year as he allowed just one run on three hits in 4.1 innings of work. He struck out three and walked one. Carolina also received a solid relief performance from senior right-hander Curtis Johnson, who pitched 2.2 perfect innings with five strikeouts. Senior left-hander Alex Farotto came on in relief in the ninth to post his second save as he got the final two outs of the game on a pair of strikeouts. The loss for Charleston Southern went to starter TJ Green who lasted four innings and allowed three runs on seven hits. He is 1-1 on the year.
Both teams traded runs in the second inning as Charleston Southern broke ahead 1-0 on a solo home run by Tyler Thornburg that was followed by a solo shot for Carolina off the bat of Ebert, who was making his first start in a Gamecock uniform.
South Carolina added single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings to go ahead 4-1. Mack drove in Adam Matthews with a RBI base hit in the third inning, Scott Wingo recorded his first RBI of the year in the fourth to drive home Andrew Crisp and a pinch-hit sacrifice fly from Jeffery Jones scored Brady Thomas as the Gamecocks built a three-run lead.
That lead increased to 6-1 in the seventh inning as Ebert drove in his second run of the night with a double to left center to score Mack. Justin Dalles would then score off of a wild pitch by CSU reliever Brandon Roberts.
Despite the five-run lead, Charleston Southern didn’t waver and looked to rally with a run in the eighth inning as Kory Morian singled home Jake Cox. The Buccaneers then made things interesting in the ninth as they loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a base hit. With the bases still loaded, Cox would walk on four pitches to score the Bucs third run and cut the deficit to 6-3. Carolina went to the bullpen again with Farotto. CSU caught a break then as a slow chopper off the bat of Brantley Meier could not be fielded cleanly by Farotto allowing the second run of the inning to cross the plate and putting the potential tying run on second base with the bags still full. Farotto stayed tough though and fanned both Scotty Radabaugh and Kory Morian on strikeouts to end the game and preserve the Carolina win.
South Carolina finished with a 12-6 advantage in hits. Mack’s 3-for-4 performance led the way with Dalles, Ebert and Andrew Crisp also with two hits apiece.
South Carolina will return to action on Friday evening hosting a three-game series with Long Beach State. First pitch in Friday’s opener is set for 7 pm with live video broadcast available at GamecocksOnline.com. The game can also be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network including 107.5 FM “The Game.”
