Gamecocks ride strong pitching, hit batters to rain-shortened sweep of Holy Cross
On a cold, rainy and sloppy afternoon at Founders Park, South Carolina baseball picked up its first opening weekend sweep since 2016, taking down Holy Cross 5-0 in a game that was called after four and a half innings due to weather.
Key inning
In the bottom of the third, as the rain steadily came down, the Gamecocks tallied all their runs they’d need, but Holy Cross did most of the work — two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases, then junior USC infielder Jeff Heinrich was hit by another pitch to force in a run.
Freshman infielder Braylen Wimmer followed with an infield single to short, and the Holy Cross defender slipped before he could try for the force out at third base, allowing another run. Another walk and another hit batsman plated two more. The Gamecocks scored four runs without hitting the ball out of the infield once.
“Today, because there wasn’t going to be much chance for power (in the rain) ... it was a day we had to manufacture runs and we were able to use our athleticism and speed on the bases,” coach Mark Kingston said.
Box score highlight
A day after Brett Kerry struck out 12, junior starting pitcher Brannon Jordan was nearly perfect despite the slippery conditions. He fanned nine in four innings, allowing just two hits and no walks. His only trouble came in the top of the fifth, as a double and wild pitch put a Holy Cross runner on third, but another strikeout ended the inning and, after a brief delay, the game.
“He just had really good command of a plus slider,” Kingston said. “That was a real pitch and just made guys very uncomfortable, a lot of swings and misses on it. And then you combine that with, he was about 90, 91 (miles per hour) on his fastball, he’ll be up to 94 in better conditions. But you just saw a guy with really good command and a really good secondary pitch.”
His only real trouble came in the top of the fifth, as a double and wild pitch put a Holy Cross runner on third, but another strikeout ended the inning and, after a brief delay, the game.
“For the conditions, I felt like I pitched pretty well, as far as that goes,” Jordan said. “In the future, hopefully it’s not gonna be as bad weather.”
Stars at the plate
While Jordan was dominant on the mound, sophomore first baseman Wes Clarke gave him some insurance in the fourth inning, absolutely crushing one off the bat at 109 mph to deep center field for his second home run in as many days. Junior outfielder Noah Campbell, meanwhile, was 1-for-2 with a walk and a pair of stolen bases.
Wimmer also posted a multi-hit game, the only Gamecock to do so and the first of his career, to improve his average to .444.
“It was a good weekend. I just got to get back in the cages and take ground balls and keep getting better, so keep moving forward from here,” Wimmer said.
When do the Gamecocks play next?
Who: South Carolina (3-0) vs. Winthrop (3-0)
When: 4 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Founders Park
TV: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Radio: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
This story was originally published February 16, 2020 at 2:41 PM.
