March 14, 2015

Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A pair of two-run homers off the bats of Alex Destino and Elliot Caldwell lifted seventh-ranked South Carolina to a 4-3 victory over Kentucky on Saturday at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks improve to 16-3 and 2-0 in league play while the loss drops the Wildcats to 13-5 and 0-2 in the SEC.

After Caldwell led of the second inning with a single to right center, Destino crushed a 2-0 pitch from Wildcat starter Dustin Beggs over the right field wall to give the Gamecocks a 2-0 lead.

Kentucky cut South Carolina’s lead in half plating a run in the top of the fourth. Ka’ai Tom opened the frame with a double down the left field line, advanced to third on JaVon Shelby’s single and scored on a double from Marcus Carson.

Caldwell extended the lead for the Gamecocks in the seventh, giving Carolina a 4-1 advantage, with a two-run blast over the left field wall in the bottom of the sixth.

The Wildcats cut the Gamecock lead to 4-3 as they pushed across two runs in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Storm Wilson and a RBI single off the bat of Thomas Bernal.

Junior left-hander Jack Wynkoop allowed two runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out five batters in 7.1 innings of work. He improves to 4-1 on the season. Sophomore right-hander Taylor Widener earned his sixth save of year after pitching 1.2 innings to close out the game. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out two batters.

GAME CHANGER

Jack Wynkoop limited the Wildcats to just one run in the top of the fourth after they loaded the bases with no outs.

KEY STAT A pair of two-run homers gave the Gamecocks the four runs they needed to defeat Kentucky.

NOTABLES

• Alex Destino tallied his fourth home run and 19th RBI of the season.
• Elliott Caldwell’s two-run homer in the sixth inning was the first home run of his career.
• Gene Cone has safely reached base in all 19 games this year.

QUOTABLE South Carolina Head Coach Chad Holbrook

Opening Statement
“We feel very, very fortunate to have won this game. My buddy that coaches basketball at North Carolina, Roy Williams, has a saying for this type of game, `I feel like I stole somebody’s cookies.’ That’s kind of what I feel like. We got out hit 9-4, they had no errors and we had two, but we found a way to win. We talk about winning anyway here a lot and today we won anyway. I’m excited about that part. Jack Wynkoop pitched really well today and kept us in the game. I think he started to get in his groove in the sixth and seventh innings, looking back on it maybe I should’ve kept him in there. He started looking a little more efficient towards the end of the game. That being said, we were very fortunate that Elliot Caldwell and Alex Destino got into pitches and that was enough to win the game. The pitching staff was solid again. Taylor Widener didn’t have the stuff that he usually has from a velocity standpoint but he battled and competed and kept them at bay. I think that the biggest inning in the game was the fourth when they had the bases loaded, with no one out and we found a way to do some damage control and only give up one run. That kept them at bay and kept the game in check a little bit for us. All in all it was a big win. SEC wins are always great wins, so we’re ecstatic about that part. Hopefully we’ll come out tomorrow and play with the same type of energy and enthusiasm we played with the first two days.”

UP NEXT

South Carolina and Kentucky will conclude the three-game series on Sunday at Carolina Stadium with first pitch set for 1:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network + and can be heard on the Gamecock IMG Network including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.”