May 18, 2010
| Coach Tanner |
| Jackie Bradley, Jr. |
| Whit Merrifield |
| Jay Brown |
| Bobby Haney |
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina had 10 consecutive batters reach base in a nine-run seventh inning including a grand slam home run by Bobby Haney as the Gamecocks defeated Furman 11-6 on Tuesday night in non-conference baseball action at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks are now 42-11 on the year while the loss drops Furman to 16-34 for the season. South Carolina returns to action beginning on Thursday night hosting Florida in the first of a three-game series in a battle for the SEC championship. First pitch for the series opener is 7 p.m. with the game televised live on SportSouth and also can be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network and at GamecocksOnline.com.
With the game tied at 2-2, the Gamecocks made their move in the bottom of the seventh inning. Bobby Haney singled to open the inning followed by a one-out base hit by Whit Merrifield and a walk to Jackie Bradley Jr. that loaded the bases. Both Haney and Merrifield would score on Christian Walker’s RBI single to right field off of Furman reliever Kevin Gaid. After an intentional walk to Jeffery Jones loaded the bases, the Gamecocks scored their third run of the inning on a walk issued to Adrian Morales. After that, Robert Beary laced a RBI single scoring Walker and ending the evening for Gaid. With Kevin Gottlieb on in relief, Carolina kept it going as Brady Thomas delivered with a RBI single. The bases were still full and set the stage for Haney, who reached base for the second time in the inning, this time briefly, as he crushed a grand slam home run to right field, his third homer of the year and second career grand slam that increased the Gamecock advantage to 11-2. Furman would scratch across a run in the eighth inning as well as three runs in the ninth inning.
Carolina reliever Steven Neff picked up the win with a perfect inning of relief and one strikeout. He is 2-1 for the year. Furman reliever Nick Karow went 0.1 innings and allowed three runs on two hits in the loss. He is 0-2 for the season.
With the win, the Gamecocks finished for the first time in modern history (1970-present) with an undefeated record in non-conference midweek games in the regular season with a 14-0 mark.
The Gamecocks outhit Furman 14-7 on the evening. Merrifield tied a season-high with a 3-for-5 day at the plate. Haney was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and tied a career-high with four RBI. Rob Fondu was 2-for-3 with two runs scored to lead Furman.
South Carolina broke ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning. Bobby Haney and Scott Wingo each reached base with singles and scored on RBI base hits courtesy of Whit Merrifield and Jackie Bradley Jr. Furman struck back and tied it at 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning on Reese Wade’s two-run homer.
All three South Carolina-Florida baseball games from Thursday-Saturday will be televised live. Thursday and Friday’s game will be on SportsSouth with Saturday’s game on Fox Sports South.
