Off-speed kills: USC upset by Furman

Paladins keep the Gamecocks’ bats at bay to help snap a three-year skid

By SETH EMERSON - semerson@thestate.com

From his vantage point on second base, Reese Havens must have thought he was about to score the tying run. He must have thought it twice.

But when two of USC’s best players hit the ball hard in the ninth inning Tuesday — each time with the bases loaded — both were hit right at the second baseman. So Havens was stranded, and No. 10 USC was surprised at home by Furman 4-2 on Tuesday night.

“James (Darnell) squared one up and so did (Justin) Smoak,” Havens said. “But we just didn’t get it done tonight, bottom line.”

It was the first win by Furman (11-8) against USC since 2005. The Gamecocks (15-6) had won the past three games.

It wasn’t quite the nonconference follow-up South Carolina wanted after its first SEC weekend sweep in two years.

“They out-pitched us,” Gamecocks coach Ray Tanner said.

It was the fewest runs South Carolina has scored since a 2-1 win against Presbyterian on March 10. But timely hitting may have been the big difference.

There were a combined 24 runners left on base, with Furman leaving two more. But when it counted most, the Paladins came through.

Bobby Hubbard pulled a two-run, eighth-inning double to break a 2-2 tie. Furman’s previous 10 hits were all singles.

The double came off USC ace reliever Curtis Johnson, who hung a 1-1 curveball to Hubbard. It was Johnson’s first outing in 10 days, but he didn’t blame rust.

“I don’t think so. The kid had a good at-bat on me right there, and he just hit a good pitch,” Johnson said.

The Gamecocks had two prime chances to answer, no better than the final inning.

Phil Disher, Havens and Whit Merrifield all singled, bringing Darnell to the plate with one out. The Gamecocks’ No. 3 hitter got the count to 3-1, then lined a shot right at Furman second baseman Marcus Rose.

That brought up Smoak, the All-America candidate, batting lefty against Furman right-hander Nick Karow. On a 2-1 count, Smoak lined a one-hopper to Rose, who threw to first for the final out.

“They had Smoak played right,” Tanner said.

Karow, a hard-thrower with a 0.66 earned run average, bailed out Furman in the eighth inning. After entering with two on and two out, he struck out USC’s Harley Lail on a high fastball.

Furman’s three pitchers mostly subsisted on off-speed pitches the rest of the night. Starter Kevin Gaid, making his first college start, worked his way through five innings, followed by Ian Parry and Karow.

“Hitting is timing and pitching is trying to throw that timing off,” Furman coach Ron Smith said. “So that’s what we tried to do.”

Things looked better for the Gamecocks when Havens led off the bottom of the first with a homer to dead center. But the Gamecocks would have just one other extra-base hit.

“It was a lot of off-speed (pitches), and we were slow to adjust,” Havens said. “And before you knew it, the game was over.”

Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.

FURMAN 4, USC 2

Furman	USC
Rose 2b	5	1	1	0	Havens ss	4	2	3	1
Rodgers cf	4	1	1	0	Merrifield cf	5	0	2	0
Hubbard 3b	4	0	2	2	Darnell 3b	5	0	1	0
Lewis rf	4	1	0	0	Smoak 1b	4	0	1	0
Hemingway c	4	1	2	0	Enders dh	4	0	1	0
Jackson 1b	3	0	1	0	D. Crisp 2b	3	0	1	0
Wade dh	5	0	4	1	Lail rf	3	0	0	0
Fondu pr	0	0	0	0	Disher c	4	0	1	0
Holloway lf	5	0	0	0	Hopper pr	0	0	0	0
Jenkins ss	4	0	1	0	Mack lf	4	0	0	0
Totals	38	4	12	3	Totals	36	2	10	1
Furman	000	020	020	— 4USC	101	000	000	— 2

E - Hubbard(2); Darnell(5). LOB - Fur. 13; USC 11. 2B - Hubbard(3); Enders(6). HR - Havens (6). HBP - Rodgers; Jackson. SH - Jackson(2). SB - Fondu(1); D. Crisp(4); Lail(5).

Furman

Gaid	5	4	2	1	3	5
Ian Parry, W (2-1)	2	ð	3	0	0	1	2
Karow	1	Ð	3	0	0	0	1

USC

Godwin	6	7	2	1	3	7
Bangs	ð	2	0	0	0	1
Thomas, L (0-1)	1	1	1	1	0	1
Johnson	ð	1	1	1	0	2
Wideberg	ð	1	0	0	0	1

Save - Karow(3). HBP - by Godwin (Jackson); by Johnson (Rodgers).

Umpires - Home: Randy Hoback. 1B: Barry Chambers. 3B: Joe Marion.

T: 2:52 A: 4,589.