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Tough loss puts USC in tough position
Gamecocks will play LSU in an elimination game after losing to Vanderbilt
CommentsHOOVER, Ala. —South Carolina’s season-best eight-game winning streak came to an end at a most unfortunate time.
Thursday’s 5-4 loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament at Regions Park not only dropped the fifth-seeded Gamecocks into the loser’s bracket, but also into an elimination showdown with top-seeded LSU at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt was able to continue its surprising run in the tournament thanks to another night of strong pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting, a stark contrast to the previous meetings between the two teams.
USC (38-20) swept the season series in May by a combined 33-13 — a series where Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin acknowledged his team was thoroughly beaten. But the Commodores looked like a different team in this game.
“It says a lot about Vandy, but it also says a lot about the league we play in,” USC coach Ray Tanner said. “It’s the SEC. Anybody can beat anybody.”
Vanderbilt (33-24), which gets a winner’s bracket bye today, scored in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk allowed by USC reliever Michael Roth (1-1) to Jonathan White, whose nine-pitch at-bat produced the game-winner after two singles and a throwing error by third baseman Andrew Crisp.
Roth insists the Gamecocks are not ready to cash in, despite a pair of long, late games. This one ended at 2:09 a.m. Friday.
“We’ve got some guys itching to throw. They’ll be ready,” Roth said. “We’ll go out there and compete. We’ve got the depth.”
Vanderbilt also showed its bullpen depth. The Commodores used four relievers, including winner Richie Goodenow (1-1), to get through the ninth, when the Gamecocks loaded the bases with one out. But Nick Ebert popped up and Justin Dalles struck out.
“We had the right guys at the plate, but it didn’t work out for us,” Tanner said.
The contest featured a pair of hard-throwing right-handers in USC redshirt sophomore Sam Dyson and Vandy freshman Sonny Gray. Both consistently registered pitches in the mid-90s on the scoreboard radar gun, with Gray hitting 100 at one point.
Gray, making his third start of the season, dominated USC hitters all night. He struck out 11 Gamecocks while allowing eight hits. He left after a pair of runners reached to start the eighth inning. Crisp’s RBI groundout cut the lead to 4-3, and pinch-hitter Parker Bangs’ double tied the game.
“I felt like we were going to win (at that point),” Tanner said.
Dyson threw seven innings, giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out eight. Vanderbilt took a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning when Aaron Westlake and Andrew Giobbi drilled back-to-back home runs off Dyson.
“I felt fine,” Dyson said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t what I was looking for.”
Now it is up to freshman left-hander Nolan Belcher to keep the team’s tournament hopes alive. He will face LSU senior right-hander Louis Coleman, who defeated USC earlier this season.
“It’d be nice if he gets us deep into the game,” Tanner said of Belcher. “He’s going to have to bring his ‘A’ game.”
The Gamecocks broke through first with a run off Gray in the third inning. Bobby Haney slapped a single to left field, and Scott Wingo followed with a perfectly placed bunt hit to the right side. Whit Merrifield moved the runners up with a sacrifice, and DeAngelo Mack scored the run with a groundout to first.
Vanderbilt answered right away in the fourth with a pair of runs off Dyson. White led off with a single, and Steven Liddle followed with a double to the left-center gap. Westlake got the first run home with an RBI groundout, and Giobbi delivered the second run by dumping a double down the left-field line.
But South Carolina fought back in the fourth. Ebert and Dalles singled to start the inning. Two outs later, Ebert stood on third and Crisp was on second. Haney singled up the middle, but Vandy shortstop Brian Harris kept the ball in the infield as Ebert scored to tie the game at 2. When Crisp also tried to score on the play, Harris threw him out on a play where Giobbi applied the tag before Crisp could get his hand in after sliding past the plate.
Plays like that characterized how close the Gamecocks came to pushing their winning streak to nine games.
“We had a couple of chances late to put the dagger in, but we didn’t get it done,” Dyson said. “We fought back, but it didn’t go our way tonight.”
| VANDERBILT | USC | ||||||||
| Harris ss | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Merrifield cf | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| White cf | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | Mack dh | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Liddle lf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Bradley rf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Casali 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ebert 1b | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Westlake dh | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Dalles c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Giobbi c | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | Crisp 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Reynolds 2b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Matthews lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Esposito 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jones ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| McClure lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bangs ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Wormsley lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Haney ss | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Loftus ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Wingo 2b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Totals | 37 | 5 | 10 | 5 | Totals | 36 | 4 | 11 | 4 |
| Vanderbilt | 000 | 202 | 001—5South Carolina | 001 | 100 | 020—4 |
| Gray | 7 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| Cotham | ð | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Goodenow W, 1-1 | Ð | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Brewer | Ð | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bierman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Reid Sv, 1 | ð | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Dyson | 7 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| Roth L, 1-1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Goodenow faced 1 batter in the ninth.
Bierman faced 1 batter in the ninth.
WP—Gray. Balk—Dyson 2.
Umpires—Home, Guillie; first, Walsh; third, Savage; third, Cox.
T—3:22. A—3,302.
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