Freshman pitchers struggle as South Carolina rallies but falls to Presbyterian
The offense sputtered to life a little bit for South Carolina baseball, but this time, the Gamecocks' arms weren't there to keep things close, as USC fell 7-4 to Presbyterian at Founders Park on Tuesday.
A total of four freshman pitchers took the mound for all nine innings for South Carolina (20-17, 6-9 SEC), and led by starter Carmen Mlodzinski, all looked short of their best.
"They battled, but when you give up seven runs, that’s not good enough. Bottom line," coach Mark Kingston said. "Last week, Carmen pitched better and we gave up one run on the road. Tonight, we gave up seven runs. Wasn’t good enough. I don’t care if it’s freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, if we put you on the mound, we expect you to get the job done for us."
A week after cruising through five innings in his first career start against The Citadel, Mlodzinski struggled against some crafty hitting from the Blue Hose (13-26, 6-9 Big South), as PC manufactured three runs in the first two innings, using a walk, two singles, sacrifice bunt and RBI groundout to score twice in the first frame, then two hard-hit doubles to add another in the second.
South Carolina rallied in the bottom of the third, as sophomore left fielder Carlos Cortes and senior first baseman Madison Stokes walked, then both scored when what looked to be a lazy fly ball down the left field line from junior shortstop LT Tolbert dropped in under the diving glove of PC senior Nick Wise.
Tolbert made it to third on the play for his team-leading third triple of the season, then scored when junior center fielder Jacob Olson ripped a hard-hit ball to third base that ricocheted off the fielder's chest and into foul territory, giving Olson an RBI double.
But outside of that inning, the Gamecocks were mostly dormant on offense, skying 17 flyouts and looking only marginally better than they did during Sunday's doubleheader against Arkansas, when USC scored no runs across both games.
"The only carryover (from Sunday) I saw was that we were in a funk offensively," Kingston said. " ... To me, our bats look a little slow, our swings look a little bit long."
Presbyterian regained its lead in the top of the fifth off another pair of doubles against Mlodzinski, who was taken out after the end of the inning in favor of freshman TJ Shook. After redshirt senior catcher Thatcher Coleman reached on a passed ball off a strikeout, the Blue Hose loaded the bases with a walk and single. Shook then walked in a run and was replaced by fellow rookie John Gilreath, who surrendered a sacrifice fly.
The Gamecocks got a run back in the bottom of the seventh inning after Tolbert laced a single up the middle to score Cortes, but Presbyterian restored its three-run advantage in the ninth against right-hander Parker Coyne off an RBI double to the right field wall.
"We were never taught to hit pop-ups ... it's baseball, you're going to get slumps, and i don't think the whole team is in a slump, there are some guys who are swinging the bat well," Tolbert said of his team's offensive woes. But as Olson said, "It just wasn't there."
With the defeat, the Gamecocks are now 5-6 against fellow South Carolina schools, including 2-3 in midweek games.
"We are in no position to lose games like we did tonight," Kingston said. "We need to be better. Period. We need to be better. We should not lose these games."
THREE POINTS
Star of the game: Junior shorstop LT Tolbert, who was involved in every Gamecock run of the night with three RBIs and a score of his own while going 2-4 at the plate.
Play of the game: TJ Shook's passed ball strikeout in top of the sixth robbed him of a crucial second out and sparked Presbyterian's two-run inning, which proved to be the game's winning runs.
Stat of the game: In advancement opportunities, Presbyterian was ruthlessly efficient, going 13-23, including a .333 batting average with runners on.
NEXT
Who: South Carolina (20-17, 6-9 SEC) vs. LSU (24-13, 9-6 SEC), Game 1
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Founders Park
Watch: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Listen: 107.5 FM
Probable pitchers: South Carolina — Jr. RHP Adam Hill (3-4, 4.65 ERA); LSU — So. RHP Zack Hess (6-3, 3.71 ERA)
This story was originally published April 17, 2018 at 10:16 PM with the headline "Freshman pitchers struggle as South Carolina rallies but falls to Presbyterian."