Baseball Drops Wofford 9-5 on Wednesday
May 3, 2017
COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” Ross Grosvenor, Alex Destino and Riley Hogan each homered as 25th ranked South Carolina belted out 11 hits on the way to a 9-5 win over Wofford on Wednesday night at Founders Park. The Gamecocks improve to 26-17 dropping the Terriers to 24-21 for the season.
Freshman right-hander Colby Lee earned the win in relief and is now 2-0 on the year. He allowed two runs on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 2.2 innings of relief. Freshman right-hander Cody Morris tied his career-high with eight strikeouts in four innings of work with two runs on one hit with three walks. Senior right-hander Chris Sheehan suffered the loss for Wofford and dropped to 3-2 on the season. He allowed seven runs, five earned, on eight hits in six innings pitched with two walks and two strikeouts.
The Gamecocks got off to an early start as they put four runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Jacob Olson opened the frame with a double to left field and LT Tolbert drove him in with a single to right field. Jonah Bride also hit a single to right field, followed by Riley Hogan’s double to center to score Tolbert. Alex Destino then reached on a fielding error and Bride scored on the same play. Destino was caught stealing, but not before Hogan reached home to give Carolina a 4-0 advantage.
Wofford got a run of their own in the following inning as Morris walked the first two batters and the Terriers loaded the bases following an error. Max McDougald knocked in the run with a groundout to Bride. The Terriers added a run in the top of the third on a wild pitch after having runners on second and third.
Ross Grosvenor homered in his second straight game to give the Gamecocks a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as he launched a solo homer to left field. The Gamecocks added a run in the bottom of the fifth as Madison Stokes drew a leadoff walk, followed by a single by Olson and Carlos Cortes lifted a sacrifice fly to score Stokes.
Hogan gave the Gamecocks a five-run cushion in the bottom of the sixth as he belted a homer to right field, the first of his collegiate career. Wofford cut the lead down to 7-4 after adding two runs in the top of the seventh.
Reed Massey brought the Terriers within two in the eighth with a solo home run, but the Gamecocks responded in the bottom of the inning as Destino crushed a two-run homer to right field, giving Carolina 9-5 advantage.
GAME CHANGER
The Gamecocks’ four-run first inning, highlighted by two doubles and two singles. It marked the first time this season that Carolina had tallied four or more runs in the first inning.
KEY STAT
Eight Carolina starters tallied at least one hit in the contest, with three Gamecocks recording multi-hit games. Olson went 3-for-4 with Hogan 2-fof-4 and Stokes 2-for-3 at the plate.
NOTABLES
– Cody Morris tied his career high strikeouts with eight. He last threw eight strikeouts on March 28 vs. The Citadel.
– Jacob Olson tied his career high hits with three. He went 3-for-5 at the plate with one RBI.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Chad Holbrook
“I think the thing that stood out to me was that we swung the bats well and got off to a good start in the first inning. It was good to see three home runs from Riley (Hogan), Ross (Grosvenor) and Alex (Destino). We played okay. We did some not so intelligent things tonight, but we played over it and played through it. Colby (Lee) and Cody (Morris) threw okay for freshmen. They have really good stuff and they’re just learning how to pitch, and they’re going to make mistakes. But it’s good to make mistakes and win. It’s a lot better for them to make mistakes against another team than in practice. You grow more when you’re trying to help your team win and they did that tonight. They helped us win and they threw okay, and Reed (Scott) was terrific at the end. So we didn’t have to use (Josh) Reagan or Tyler (Johnson) so hopefully that’ll help us this weekend to be a little bit more rested. All in all, like I told you guys on Sunday, all three weeks that we have remaining are important. It’s nice to win this one, and we’ll have a good workout tomorrow in Baton Rouge and get ready for a tough weekend.”
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks are back in action on Friday, May 5 as they head to Baton Rouge, La. to face LSU in a three-game series. First pitch is set for 8 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+ and is also available on the Gamecock IMG Network including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.”
