Gamecocks clinch series against Holy Cross as Brett Kerry strikes out 12
South Carolina baseball picked up its first series win of 2020 on Saturday, once again racing out to a big early lead, then holding off a plucky Holy Cross squad, 9-4, at Founders Park.
Box score highlight
Sophomore starting pitcher Brett Kerry smashed his previous career high of seven strikeouts with 12 on Saturday, the most by any Gamecock since T.J. Shook had that many against The Citadel on March 5, 2019, and tied for the most since Adam Hill had 14 against Clemson on March 2, 2018.
“His fastball is about what it’s been — 88 to 91 (miles per hour). And the slider is good, so it’s just amazing ... you watch him doing it, you don’t see 95, you don’t see it an 81 mile an hour hammer. But you just see guys struggle to see it well and put it in play a lot of the time,” coach Mark Kingston said. “So I’d just say he was Brett Kerry being Brett Kerry.”
Kerry struck out the side three times and threw 89 pitches in five innings for his fifth career win. The only trouble he ran into came in the second, when Holy Cross collected four hits, including a triple to left field and a two-run home run to right, to score three runs.
“I’d say it was an all right start,” Kerry said. “I’d like to go deeper in the game just for my team. And then, especially when they put up five runs in the first, I need to have a big zero afterwards so that we can get back in the dugout. But overall I’m pretty happy with my performance.”
Key inning
Kerry’s dominance came from the very start, as he immediately pounded the zone in the first inning and struck out the side on just 11 pitches.
Then, just as they did in the series opener Friday, the Gamecocks batted around in the bottom half of the frame. Junior outfielder Andrew Eyster, sophomore first baseman Wes Clarke and senior shortstop George Callil all contributed RBI singles, and junior outfielder Noah Campbell also drove in a run with a sacrifice bunt to stake Carolina to a 5-0 lead. USC also got some help from shoddy Holy Cross defense, which committed three errors in the frame and five on the day.
“It’s very important to get that momentum, especially in the first inning, because it just sets the tone for the game and it’s pretty deflating for the other team,” Eyster said. “So I mean it’s definitely important, especially when it’s five runs like that. And you know, we’ve been on the opposite side of that, especially last year, so we know how deflating that can be.”
Stars at the plate
While Kerry had a strong day on the mound, Wes Clarke bounced back from an 0-for-4 series opener at the plate to tie his career high in RBIs with three — in addition to his run-scoring single in the first, he cracked a two-run home run as part of a three-run seventh inning for the Gamecocks.
“I was looking for that exact pitch in that spot there, because that’s what he’d been throwing everybody,” Clarke said of the home run. “So, it felt great to do what I wanted to do with the pitch that I want.”
Andrew Eyster also posted a multi-hit, multi-RBI game and homered, with his long ball coming with the bases empty in the sixth inning.
Injury report
Freshman third baseman Brennan Milone, who had a strong debut Friday with three walks and a run scored, left Saturday’s game in the third inning with a hip flexor injuy. Kingston said he had been “battling” the injury going into the weekend and aggravated it during an at-bat in the second inning. His status is day-to-day.
When do the Gamecocks play next?
Who: South Carolina (2-0) vs. Holy Cross (0-2)
When: Noon Sunday
Where: Founders Park
TV: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Radio: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
Starting pitchers: South Carolina — Jr. RHP Brannon Jordan; Holy Cross — Jr. RHP Liam Dvorak
This story was originally published February 15, 2020 at 5:40 PM.
