April 7, 2015

Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina belted 14 hits on the way to an 11-1 victory over Appalachian State on Tuesday night at Carolina Stadium. The Gamecocks improve to 22-11 on the year while the loss drops the Mountaineers to 10-24. The game was called after seven innings and an hour delay due to severe weather in the Columbia area.

South Carolina sent 12 batters to the plate to score six runs in the bottom half of the first inning. Gene Cone and Max Schrock both singled to open the frame followed by a two-run double from Kyle Martin. After Elliott Caldwell was hit by a pitch, and a sac bunt by Jordan Gore DC Arendas knocked in Martin with a sacrifice fly and Caldwell scored on Alex Destino’s two-out single. Hunter Taylor followed with a single before Marcus Mooney was hit by pitch to load the bases. Cone drew a walk in his second at bat of the frame, which brought home Destino and Taylor was able to score on a fielding error by the Appalachian State second baseman Dillon Dobson.

Mooney reached second base on a throwing error by the Mountaineers’ third baseman to lead off the bottom of the third and quickly scored on Cone’s RBI single.

The Gamecocks added four more runs in the fourth inning to take an 11-0 lead. Caldwell opened the frame with a walk and stole second and third. After Gore reached on an infield single and stole second, Arendas brought home Caldwell with a sacrifice fly to center. Gore advanced to third on Destino’s groundout and score on Taylor’s RBI single. Mooney followed with a single through the left side and another base hit off the bat of Gene Cone scored Taylor. A RBI double to left-center from Max Schrock brought home Mooney and gave the Gamecocks the 11 run advantage.

The Mountaineers pushed a run across in the top of the seventh to cut South Carolina’s lead to 11-1. Brian Baulk drew a two-out walk, advanced to second on a single from Avery Jackson and scored on Michael Peirson’s RBI single up the middle.

Sophomore right-hander Reed Scott earned the win after hurling five scoreless innings and is now 1-1 on the year. He allowed just four hits and three walks and striking out six batters. Freshman right-hander Canaan Cropper allowed one run on two hits and one walk in two innings of relief. Mountaineer starter Sean Mason suffers the loss after giving up six runs, five earned, on five hits in 0.2 innings.

GAME CHANGER
A six-run first inning helped pave the way to the Gamecocks’ 11-1 victory.

KEY STAT
South Carolina was 8-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

NOTABLES
• The six runs in the first inning tied a season-high for the Gamecocks for runs in an inning.
• DC Arendas’ two sacrifice flies tied a school record.
• Gene Cone tied his career-high of hits and RBIs in a single game with three apiece.
• Elliott Caldwell tallied his team-leading fifth triple.
• This marked the Gamecocks’ third-straight game with double digit hits.

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Chad Holbrook
“I thought our kids came out ready to play today; they swung the bats very well in the beginning of the game. The first four innings I think we hit some of the hardest balls we have all year. We needed to play well here, all these games are important down the stretch. Whether it is conference or non conference, they are all extremely important and they are all magnified because of the tough stretch we have had from the last couple of weeks. It was good to get a win at home. Reed Scott threw the ball well and got us off to a good start. It was good to see Canaan Cropper pitch tonight too. He will continue to get better each time he gets out there. All in all it was a good win for us and we are excited about welcoming The Citadel here at Carolina Stadium tomorrow night.

UP NEXT
The Gamecocks host The Citadel at Carolina Stadium on Wednesday with first pitch set for 7 p.m. The game will be televised on SEC Network + and can be heard on the Gamecock IMG Network including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.”