Skip to main content
Partner logo
Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link Gamecocks+

April 4, 2015

Box Score

STARKVILLE, MISS. – All nine Gamecock starters tallied at least one hit as 13th ranked South Carolina belted out 15 hits for the game on the way to a 13-7 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon. Max Schrock had a career-high in hits going 5-for-6 with a pair of RBI and two runs scored. The Gamecocks are 21-11 and 6-6 in the SEC with Mississippi State 21-13 and 5-7 in league play.

Gamecock freshman right-hander Brandon Murray went 5.2 innings to pick up a win in relief. He is now 4-0 on the year. He allowed two runs on four hits with a walk and a strikeout. MSU starter Vance Tatum suffered the loss and is 1-1 on the year. He allowed four runs on five hits in 1.1 innings.

South Carolina went ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning. The Gamecocks loaded the bases with no outs as Gene Cone led off with a single up the middle, Max Schrock singled to right field and Kyle Martin walked. Elliott Caldwell would drive in Cone with a sac fly to left field.

MSU scored two in the bottom half of the first to take a one-run lead. However, Murray limited the damage as he came on with the bases loaded and one out and induced Ryan Gridley into a 6-4-3 double play to limit the Bulldogs.

South Carolina answered and sent eight batters to the plate in the second inning and scored four runs to take a 5-2 lead and knock MSU starter Vance Tatum from the game in the process. Madison Stokes singled to left field and Logan Koch doubled with one out to center to get things started for the Gamecocks. Marcus Mooney would belt the first pitch he saw from Tatum for a double down the left field line to score both runners. With two outs and runners on second and third base, Kyle Martin poked a single into left-center scoring Mooney and Cone.

Carolina extended the lead to 6-2 in the third inning as Bright led off with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and made his way to third on Stokes’ base hit up the middle. Bright would score on DC Arendas’ sac fly to right field.

Max Schrock launched a two-run homer to increase the advantage to six runs in the fourth inning. After Cone was hit by a 2-2 pitch, Schrock hammered a 0-1 delivery from Ross Mitchell for his fourth homer of the year to give Carolina an 8-2 lead.

After a scoreless fifth inning, the Gamecocks would scratch across a run in the sixth. Cone walked with one out, advanced to third on Schrock’s single to right field and scored on Kyle Martin’s RBI groundout to give Carolina a seven-run cushion.

After a pair of MSU runs in the bottom of the seventh, Carolina batted around in the eighth to score four runs and take a 13-4 lead. Caldwell drove in a run with the bases loaded and Bright was hit by a pitch to score a run. Arendas drove in a pair with a two-out two-run single. MSU would score three runs in the bottom of the 9th.

Carolina’s 15-hit day featured two hits from Caldwell and two hits from Stokes in addition to Schrock’s five hits. Martin and Arendas drove in three runs with Schrock, Mooney, and Caldwell with two apiece also. MSU was led by Seth Heck who went 3-for-4 at the plate.

GAME CHANGER
After Murray got Gridley to ground into the 6-4-3 double play, the Gamecocks struck back with four runs in the second to take a lead that would not be relinquished.

KEY STAT
All nine Gamecocks had at least one hit in the lineup wish eight of nine scoring at least one run.

NOTABLES
• The Gamecocks scored a season-high 13 runs and tied a season-high with 15 hits, both previous highs were set in a 1-3 win vs. Penn State on March 11, 2015.
• Max Schrock had career-high in hits going 5-for-6 at the plate tied a career-high besting his previous career-high of four hits in the game. He previously had four hits on March, 14, 2014 vs. Ole Miss. Schrock’s five hits also is an individual high by a Gamecock player in 2015. Elliott Caldwell had four hits vs. Furman on Feb. 17 and Kyle Martin had four hits at Missouri on March 22 as well. Schrock also had eight assists at second base. That total is a season-high by a Gamecock player besting the previous mark of six.
• Brandon Murray’s 5.2 innings pitched marked the longest pitching stint of his career. His previous high was 5.1 innings at Missouri, March 22, 2015.
• Gene Cone scored a career-high four runs. The four runs were also the most by a Gamecock player in a game this season.
• Logan Koch’s second inning double was his second of the year and first since Northeastern on Feb. 22, 2015.
• Marcus Mooney first multi-RBI game of the year.
• Max Schrock’s fourth inning homer was his fourth of the year and his second in SEC play.
• DC Arendas with a season-high three RBI, his first multi-RBI game of the year.

QUOTABLE
South Carolina Head Coach Chad Holbrook

“We look like we showed some life offensively today, which has been a long time coming. It made the job a little bit easier on our pitchers; even though I didn’t even feel like we were in control of the game the way (MSU) swung the bats all weekend.”

“I think we had some good fortune today. Brandon Murray really picked us up, pitched well; they hit some balls on the screws that were caught. It’s a big road win for us considering what we have gone through the last couple weeks. We get on the bus with 18 games to play and a .500 record in the league. We have a lot to play for in front of us.”

UP NEXT
South Carolina returns home for a two-game homestand at Carolina Stadium beginning on Tuesday night hosting Appalachian State. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 7 p.m. with the game broadcast on SEC Network Plus and can be heard on the Gamecock IMG Network including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.” Carolina closes out the homestand on Wednesday hosting The Citadel at 7 p.m.