Back-to-back homers — twice — sink South Carolina as Kentucky takes series
The first pair of back-to-back home runs for Kentucky put South Carolina in an early hole it would struggle to escape all game. The second set of bombs finished USC off.
On Sunday afternoon, the Gamecocks (18-14, 5-7 SEC) were unable to put up a repeat performance of their dominant offensive outing on Saturday, when they put up 15 runs on the Wildcats (22-10, 5-7 SEC).
Meanwhile, UK's vaunted attack went from dormant to dominant, bouncing USC starter Ridge Chapman from the game in just three innings and scoring runs off all three relievers for a 10-5 win and series victory.
The scoring started in the bottom of the first inning, as Kentucky junior left fielder Tristan Pompey and senior catcher Troy Squires launched consecutive homers to lead off the Wildcats.
Chapman settled down slightly after that rocky start, and the Gamecocks tied the Wildcats with a home run from sophomore left fielder Carlos Cortes in the third and an RBI groundout from senior catcher Hunter Taylor in the fourth, but Kentucky struck back in the next half-inning, as Chapman walked and hit a batter to start things off before being pulled for freshman Carmen Mlodzinski.
Mlodzinski struggled, however, with two wild pitches and a passed ball resulting in two Kentucky runs, and a single adding another, making it 5-2.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Kentucky's Luke Heyer and Luke Becker smoked a second set of back-to-back homers off junior Eddy Demurias, providing their team with enough cushion to weather RBI singles from senior first baseman Matt Williams and sophomore right fielder Riley Hogan in the top of the seventh.
THREE POINTS
Star of the game: For Kentucky, the star was Pompey, who made a diving grab in the field and went 3-5 at the plate with a home run, two RBIs and two runs.
For South Carolina, Hogan came into Sunday's contest with a 6-33 mark at the plate with just 6 RBIs in 19 games, and in a pregame ceremony, he superstitiously had his bat blessed. It must have worked, as he had the team's lone multi-hit game with a 2-3 mark with an RBI and walk.
Play of the game: Perhaps the biggest turning point of the contest came in the top of the sixth, with junior designated hitter Chris Cullen batting, runners on second and third, two outs and the Gamecocks down, 5-3. Cullen slapped a ground ball up the middle, but Kentucky junior shortstop Trey Dawson ranged to his left to make a diving grab and throw to end the inning, robbing USC of a potential game-tying hit.
Stat of the game: .111 hitting from the top four spots in South Carolina's order, compared with .533 for Kentucky, whose 1-4 hitters accounted for all their RBIs and most of their runs.
NEXT
Who: South Carolina (18-14, 5-7 SEC) vs. The Citadel (12-19, 3-6 SoCon)
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 10
Where: Joe Riley Park, Charleston, South Carolina
Watch: Streaming on SoCon Digital Network
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia
Probable pitchers: South Carolina — Fr. RHP Logan Chapman (2-0, 3.86 ERA); The Citadel — Jr. RHP Jordan Merritt (2-4 8.07 ERA)
This story was originally published April 8, 2018 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Back-to-back homers — twice — sink South Carolina as Kentucky takes series."