Gamecocks pull out extra-inning win to clinch series vs. Vols

Wil Crowe did not earn the win while pitching in front of about 100 family members and friends in his homecoming start Saturday afternoon at Tennessee, but he was fine with that because South Carolina did with a 6-4 victory against the Vols in 10 innings.

Getting the start about 30 miles from his hometown of Sevierville, Tenn., Crowe allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings before turning it over to the bullpen.

Colie Bowers and Josh Reagan threw well in relief, and the 10^th-ranked Gamecocks scored a pair of runs on a walk and hit by pitch with the bases loaded in the 10^th inning as Carolina (13-5, 2-0) clinched the series.

“That’s all I’m worried about. My stats mean nothing. If every time I come out and we get a win as a team, that’s all that matters and that’s all I care about,” Crowe said. “A lot of people were here supporting me. It felt good. My stuff was OK, but I just tried to get through the game and tried to give ourselves a chance to win.”

South Carolina was outhit 10-4 by Tennessee (12-4, 0-2) but did enough to earn its sixth consecutive victory.

In the decisive 10^th inning, a Hunter Taylor single, Matt Williams walk and Alex Destino walk loaded the bases with one out. Carlos Cortes pinch hit for Chris Cullen and struck out before Jonah Bride walked on a full count with two outs.

Tennessee catcher Pete Derkay displayed his unhappiness with the ball four call and other calls in the at-bat, but Bride said he believed all four pitches were out of the strike zone.

“The same ball early in the count, he called it a ball. I thought it was off,” Bride said. “It was, in my opinion, and I think I know the strike zone OK. I’m ready to go see it for myself, but I’m confident with it.”

The next hitter, Jacob Olson, provided an insurance run for the Gamecocks when he was hit by a pitch on a 1-2 count in an at-bat where he fouled off six pitches.

“That was the kind of toughness that we needed to find a way to win it,” Carolina coach Chad Holbrook said.

In the bottom half of the inning, Tennessee had a pair of runners on with two outs and its leading hitter, Jeff Moberg, at the plate, but Reagan struck out the senior to preserve the win.

The Gamecocks hit a pair of home runs for the second straight night. After Tennessee scored two runs in the third inning, Carolina responded with three in the fourth.

TJ Hopkins opened the frame with a solo home run to left, and Jonah Bride added a two-run homer later in the inning.

The Vols tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on Moberg’s RBI single, and the teams traded runs in the eighth when USC’s Matt Williams hit a sac fly and Tennessee’s Matt Waldren hit a pinch-hit homer.

Bowers allowed one run in two innings, and Reagan kept Tennessee off the board the final 2 1/3 innings.

South Carolina ace Clarke Schmidt, who did not start Friday with an oblique strain, was questionable to start Sunday but is out for the weekend. USC will instead go with Cody Morris.

“I would like to try to give him another three-four-five days to heal up, and that’s what my gut’s telling me right now,” Holbrook said of Schmidt. “We’re just going to have to piecemeal it with a lot of guys, throw a number of guys two or three innings apiece and see if we can keep the game close and find a way to win it late. We’ve got some capable guys with some good arms to throw. They haven’t been in a situation like this, but that’s all right. We get to see what they’re made of.”

This story was originally published March 18, 2017 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Gamecocks pull out extra-inning win to clinch series vs. Vols."