March 9, 2013

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

Head coach Chad Holbrook
Opening Statement…
Glad to get a win against a good Rider team. We did some things pretty well but we made a lot of mistakes. That wasn’t the way South Carolina is supposed to play the game. We did do some good things. Dante [Rosenberg] was good behind the plate, he executed a hit and run, a slash play and that kind of got us going. Joey [Pankake] and Connor [Bright] hit a couple of home runs. We got 13 hits but the way we played today would get us beat in a lot of games in our league with the mistakes we made on the bases. We couldn’t get runner home from third with less than two outs, bad sac bunting, getting doubled off on a bunt play, those things are inexcusable. There are things we have to work on. I’m glad to get the win; they’re a scrappy team and one that will be in the NCAA Tournament, I never feel at ease against those guys. The one thing I did feel great about today is that Adam Westmoreland saved our bullpen. He pitched great and allowed us to rest Tyler Webb and Patrick Sullivan and that’s big for us leading into tomorrow. Shon Carson did give us a little spark. I’ve been saying it all year; if you’re fast and you can make contact you’re going to have success. Some of our fast guys struggle to make contact sometimes so we have to learn how to bunt a little better. But he provided us a spark, he’s a fun player to watch and I think the more he gets out there the better he’ll be.

On Adam Westmoreland’s performance…
He’s going to have an expanded role probably. He pitched great against Clemson and again today, he was not as good in the middle of the week against Ball State. He’s an older guy, he’s experienced, he’s got good stuff, and he’s getting a little confidence going and that’s very important. Three and two thirds innings with no hits, that’s impressive. That team puts the ball in play, they’re well coached, and I’ll sit down with Coach Meyers and we’ll keep thinking about it.

Connor Bright
On his first homerun… I knew he was throwing a lot of first pitch fastballs. I got one up about letter high and finally got it out of there. I was happy to get one out today.

Shon Carson
On getting the start in the field and his performance at the plate…
It felt good. I play better when I play the field. Once I do something well, its gets my mentality up and I do better at the plate.