March 11, 2009
Columbia, S.C. – Wofford scored 11 unanswered runs in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings on its way to a 16-8 win over 17th ranked South Carolina on Wednesday evening at Carolina Stadium. The Terriers improve to 6-6 on the year while the loss drops Carolina to 10-2 for the season. South Carolina returns to action this weekend with the first weekend of SEC play at Mississippi State. First pitch for the opener is 7:30 pm. ET on Friday evening.
Wofford was strong at the plate the entire night with 17 hits against seven Carolina pitchers. Michael Gilmartin, Jake Williams, Kyle Behrendt and James Foster all tallied three hits. Behrendt went 3-for-5 with five RBI on the night. Mac Doyle was also 2-for-4 with three RBI and Williams also drove in three runs as the Terriers beat the Gamecocks for the first time since the 2006 season in Wofford. Along with 17 hits, the Terriers were able to reach base on four walks as well as seven hit by pitches. The seven hit by pitches were the most in school history at Carolina.
Justin Dalles went 2-for-3 with two runs to lead Carolina at the plate. He homered along with DeAngelo Mack, Casey Rihn, Nick Ebert, and Jeffery Jones. The five home runs for Carolina were the most by the Gamecocks in a game this season.
Wofford reliever J.D. Osborne picked up the win after 0.2 innings of work. The loss went to South Carolina reliever Nolan Belcher. He is 0-1 on the year. Belcher allowed two runs on two hits and one walk in the four batters he faced in the sixth inning.
Wofford got on the scoreboard first with an unearned run in the top of the third inning. Konstantine Diamaduros flew out to deep right field for the second out of the inning. On the play, Josh McKinney advanced to third base and was able to score from there due to an errant throw by outfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr.
South Carolina bounced back in the bottom half of the third to take a 3-1 lead as Justin Dalles roped a three-run homer. Scott Wingo singled and Nick Ebert walked to set the stage for Dalles. With a 3-1 count and two outs, Dalles launched his fourth homer of the year over the left centerfield wall. South Carolina has now homered in all 12 games this season.
The Terriers struck back in the top of the fourth though and tied the game at 3-3. Jake Williams led off with a triple off the right field wall and scored on Kyle Behrendt’s RBI groundout. Mac Doyle then followed with a solo home run to left center. Wofford regained the lead in the top of the fifth inning with two more runs. Diamaduros was hit by a pitch and Williams doubled to give the Terriers runners on second and third with no outs. Both players would then score off a pair of sacrifice flies to right field by Behrendt and Doyle.
Trailing 5-3, South Carolina would use the long ball to regain the lead with three home runs in the bottom of the fifth to gain a 7-5 lead. DeAngelo Mack and Nick Ebert went back-to-back to right center to tie the game. After Justin Dalles was hit by a pitch by Wofford reliever Bobby Streisel, the Gamecocks went ahead on a two-run homer by pinch hitter Jeffery Jones. It marked Jones’ first career homer in a Carolina uniform.
Wofford once again didn’t waver and answered in the top of the sixth with a four spot of its own to regain a two-run lead. James Foster singled to open the inning and scored on a one-out RBI base hit from Josh McKinney. The Terriers would then load the base with one out as Michael Gilmartin singled and Diamaduros was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. The Terriers tied the game on a bases loaded walk to Jake Williams and went ahead 9-7 on Behrendt’s two-run single to left field. After a scoreless seventh, the Terriers put across seven more runs in the final two innings. Diamaduros and Doyle had RBI singles in the eighth inning. The ninth would see Williams reach base again with a RBI base hit with the bases loaded that was misplayed by center fielder Whit Merrifield allowing all three runners on base to score. Williams scored the 16th and final run of the game for Wofford on Behrendt’s fifth RBI of the game.
South Carolina tallied its final run of the game on a solo homer from Casey Rihn in the bottom of the ninth inning.
