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GALLERY: USC vs. Tennessee (Saturday)
Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com/
USC first baseman No. 13 Christian Walker gets hold of a wrong way triple to the right field corner scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning starting a two-out rally.
GoGamecocks.com
Bangs, clutch hits lift Gamecocks past Volunteers
USC baserunners catcher No. 18 Kyle Enders and designated hitter No. 6 Jeffery Jones celebrate being batted in by first baseman No. 13 Christian Walker, starting a four-run, two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com
Written by NEIL WHITE
nwhite@thestate.com
Posted on 03.20.10
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USC vs. Tennessee
WHEN: Sunday, 1 p.m. (rescheduled to start 30 minutes earlier)
WHERE: Carolina Stadium
SERIES: USC leads 42-33
RECORDS: USC 15-4 (2-0), Tennessee 10-9 (0-2)
RANKINGS: USC is No. 16 in Baseball America; Tennessee is unranked
PITCHING MATCHUP: USC LHP Tyler Webb, Fr., 0-1, 3.45 vs. Tennessee RHP Stephen McCray, Sr., 2-1, 0.73
Just when it looked as if South Carolina's bullpen had opened the door for a Tennessee comeback, Parker Bangs closed it.
And the offense responded with four clutch seventh-inning runs to support him and give the No. 16 Gamecocks a 10-7 victory Saturday at Carolina Stadium. Their ninth consecutive win also clinched the first SEC series of the season.
USC, which improved to 15-4 overall and 2-0 in the SEC, will go for the sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday. The game time was moved to 30 minutes earlier than originally scheduled because of potentially inclement weather. USC left-hander Tyler Webb will face Tennessee right-hander Stephen McCray.
"It's great to be in this position," USC coach Ray Tanner said.
Bangs, a junior right-hander, threw 2 1/3 innings of two-hit relief to get his first win of the season, although he did give up a two-run homer to Cody Hawn in the ninth. He got the final out of the seventh inning with a runner on third base to halt a three-run rally that had tied the game.
"Parker came in and gave us a lift," Tanner said. "He's made a few strides. The last 3-4 four weeks, he's been very composed."
The Gamecocks answered with four two-out runs in the seventh. The big blows came off the bats of Christian Walker, who hit a slicing two-run triple into right field, and Scott Wingo, who drilled a two-run single.
"Anytime you come into a game and your team scores a bunch of runs, it's awesome," Bangs said.
Most important, he liked how the Gamecocks took the series with the chance for the sweep.
"It's huge," he said. "Every game in the SEC is such a grind, a tough game. It's a dogfight."
Designated hitter Jeffery Jones, who had two hits and four RBIs on the day, added a solo homer for insurance in the eighth inning. Walker, who played first base, showed signs of emerging from his slump. He had two hits, but none of USC's hits was bigger than his triple.
"It was definitely a confidence booster," he said.
Tennessee (10-9, 0-2 SEC) tied the game at 5 with three runs off two USC relievers in the seventh inning. Jose Mata and Michael Roth each gave up two hits, which included RBI singles by Hawn and Matt Hamaker. The bullpen gave up starter Sam Dyson's win after he threw six solid innings.
"I was happy how we battled back in it," Tennessee coach Todd Raleigh said. "But I was disappointed we gave up those runs with two outs. We didn't get it done."
Raleigh noted the Vols outhit the Gamecocks 11-8, but the Tennessee pitchers walked nine batters to USC's two.
"That was the key today," Tanner said. "They gave us more free passes than we gave them."
Bangs hopes the Gamecocks can keep taking advantage of what opponents are giving them.
"We're just trying to ride out this winning streak. We're playing well," Bangs said.
USC plated a run in the first inning without benefit of a hit. After starter Aaron Tullo walked two batters and hit another while getting only one out, Raleigh yanked him. Reliever Steve Crnkovich walked Jones on four pitches to force in a run before getting a double-play grounder to escape further damage. Raleigh lamented that regular starter Steven Gruver was out with an injury. He used six pitchers on the day, three of them freshmen.
"It's frustrating, but it is SEC baseball," said Hawn, who had two hits and three RBIs. "They're a good-hitting team, and they did what they had to do."
The Gamecocks pushed the lead to 4-0 in the third on a two-run double by Jones and an RBI single by Adam Matthews off Crnkovich. They added another run in the fourth inning on Whit Merrifield's home run, his fourth on the season.
The Volunteers cut the lead to 5-1 in the fifth inning when Zach Osborne dumped a fly-ball RBI single into shallow right field to score Khayyan Norfork, who got things going with a two-out single. One inning later, they put up another run on Matt Duffy's two-out RBI single to make it 5-2.
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