May 11, 2010
Box Score | Quotes | Gameday Survey
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina pounded out 14 hits including a grand slam homer from Nick Ebert and a three-run homer by Jackie Bradley Jr. and starting pitcher Nolan Belcher hurled five no-hit innings to earn his third win of the year as Carolina defeated Wofford 17-4 on Tuesday night in non-conference baseball action at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks are 37-11 on the year while the loss drops Wofford to 16-32 for the season. South Carolina returns to action on Wednesday night hosting Charleston Southern at Carolina Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. The game can be heard live on the Gamecock Radio Network and at GamecocksOnline.com.
All nine Gamecocks in the starting lineup reached base at least once in the contest with eight of the nine tallying at least one hit. Bradley finished 3-for-6 with four RBI and four runs scored. Parker Bangs was 1-for-2 and drove in three runs. Adrian Morales also went 2-for-4 with a RBI and run scored.
In his first appearance since April 10 at Vanderbilt, Belcher was effective in five scoreless innings yielding just four walks and striking out four batters to pick up the win. He is now 3-0 for the season. Wofford starter Cash Collins suffered the loss and is now 1-2 for the season. He allowed one run on three hits in three innings of work for the Terriers.
South Carolina opened up a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With Jackie Bradley Jr. on first base, Christian Walker laced a single to right center that saw Bradley advanced to third on a fielding error by Wofford center fielder James Foster. With that base hit, Walker extended his hitting streak to seven games. Bradley would score the Gamecocks’ first run on a sacrifice fly to center field by Parker Bangs.
Carolina batted around in the bottom of the fourth inning to extend the lead to 7-0. A one-out single by Kyle Enders followed by walks to Bobby Haney and Scott Wingo loaded the bases for the Gamecocks. Wofford reliever Ryan Traylor then let one slip and hit Whit Merrifield allowing Enders to score. Bradley would then reach base on an infield chopper that scored Haney and Walker would be hit by a pitch to score Wingo. Carolina then scored two more runs on a single by Bangs.
Carolina reached double digits in runs on the back of a three-run homer by Bradley in the bottom of the fifth inning. A walk to Haney and a base hit by Wingo set the stage for Bradley. In a full count, Bradley stroked a pitch to left center for his eighth homer of the season giving Carolina a 10-0 lead.
South Carolina added seven runs in the bottom of the seventh go ahead 17-0 on the Terriers. Merrifield drew a walk to open the inning followed by a base hit by Bradley. Merrifield would score on Walker’s RBI ground out to the shortstop. After walks to pinch hitter Jeffery Jones and Morales loaded the bases, pinch hitter Robert Beary collected a RBI single. That was followed by a RBI base hit by pinch hitter Richard Royal. With the bases still full, Nick Ebert kept the momentum going as he launched a grand slam homer to left center. The homer was Ebert’s fifth home run of the season. The last Gamecock grand slam was on April 19 by Christian Walker in a 9-5 win over Ole Miss.
Wofford got on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth inning with four runs. Matt Moore broke the no-hit attempt by the Gamecocks with a base hit to right field just out of the reach of right fielder Evan Marzilli. James Foster also singled to right field and Alex Lee walked to load the bases for the Terriers. Moore would score on a RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of Kyle Behrendt. The Terriers added three consecutive two-out RBI singles from Landon Bennett, Konstantine Diamaduros and Taylor Rozier cutting Carolina’s lead to 17-4.
Freshman left-hander Tyler Webb will take the hill for the Gamecocks vs. Charleston Southern on Wednesday night. Webb is 2-2 on the year with a 4.39 ERA in 26.2 innings pitched. Charleston Southern will counter with sophomore left-hander Charlie McCready, who is 0-5 with a 7.40 ERA.
