Skidding Gamecocks fall flat against Presbyterian
South Carolina’s recent struggles on the baseball field didn’t get any better Tuesday night.
After learning earlier in the day that top starter Wil Crowe is out for the season with an elbow injury, the Gamecocks dropped a 7-4 decision in 10 innings to Presbyterian at Carolina Stadium for the team’s 12th loss in the last 18 games.
“Obviously, I sit up here extremely disappointed. Baseball can be exhilarating at times and it can be awfully cruel at times,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said. “Like I told the team after the game, there might be some things going against us, and we might be a victim of some tough luck, but in this game you have to make your own breaks. (The Blue Hose) made their own breaks tonight.”
The Gamecocks fell to 23-15, while the Blue Hose of the Big South improved to 22-15. PC is the third in-state school to defeat USC in a mid-week game this season, joining Winthrop and Coastal Carolina. USC had won 10 straight against the Blue Hose dating back to 1948 before the loss. The team also has lost nine of its last 12 SEC games.
“You’ve got to find a way to win, and right now we’re finding ways to lose. That’s hard to stomach around here,” Holbrook said.
USC reliever Cody Mincey (1-2) allowed three runs in the 10th on Brandon Martin’s two-run triple into the right-field corner and Glen Casaceli’s RBI single against a drawn-in infield. Six pitchers gave up 13 hits on the night to the Blue Hose.
The Gamecocks return to Carolina Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for the opener of a three-game SEC series against No. 5 Vanderbilt (28-10), which lost to Belmont on Tuesday. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
South Carolina tied Tuesday’s game with a run in the ninth inning with help from a pair of errors by PC second baseman Billy Motroni, but the Gamecocks left the bases loaded when Connor Bright flied out to end the threat. Reliever Ethan Wortkoetter (3-2) got that out and three more in the 10th for the win.
“We didn’t execute when we had a chance to win (in the ninth) and they did (in the 10th),” Holbrook said. “This is a team game, and we’ve been a very inconsistent team.”
The Blue Hose, who defeated Clemson, Indiana and Central Florida earlier in the season, jumped on USC starter Tyler Johnson for four runs in the second inning, highlighted by Ryan Hedrick’s two-run homer and Motroni’s RBI single.
USC cut the lead to 4-2 in the third inning on Elliott Caldwell’s two-out, two-run single off PC starter Brian Kehner, who threw five solid innings.
The Gamecocks added another run in the sixth inning when Caldwell led off with a triple, his sixth of the season, which tied a USC single-season record. He scored on a close play at the plate on a sacrifice fly by DC Arendas to cut the lead to 4-3.
This story was originally published April 15, 2015 at 12:19 AM with the headline "Skidding Gamecocks fall flat against Presbyterian."