South Carolina sweeps Albany with 8-1 victory in finale

South Carolina’s bats got off to a bit of a slow start in Sunday’s series finale against Albany, but the Gamecocks scored eight runs over the fifth, sixth and seventh innings en route to an 8-1 victory, and a series sweep.

USC (3-0) pounded 12 hits and outscored Albany (0-3) 24-4 over the three-game series. South Carolina returns to action at 4 p.m. Tuesday against Appalachian State.

“It was a really good weekend for us. … I thought our pitchers were outstanding all weekend long,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said. “All in all, I couldn’t be more pleased with my team and how they played. I put in a number of different guys, and I think you can see we have a team with some depth.”

The Gamecocks had several loud outs over the first few innings, but were unable to scratch a run across until the fifth. USC struck out only three times, but hit several balls at defenders early on and stranded five runners in the first four innings.

John Jones continued his stellar start to his South Carolina career, driving in three runs in the win. The designated hitter went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and upped his total for the weekend to nine. Jones got USC on the board in the fifth and said the Gamecocks never got down despite stranding runners early.

“I wouldn’t say there was any pressure or anything like that. It was a sigh of relief,” he said of driving in the first run. “There were a ton of RBI situations where we got robbed. We knew our time would come, and eventually we scratched a couple across.”

Junior right-hander Colie Bowers (1-0) earned the win in 1 1/3 innings. Starter Taylor Widener had six strikeouts in five innings and allowed an unearned run, which came after throwing errors by Chris Cullen and Marcus Mooney in the first inning.

“It was really neat to see Taylor Widener throw the ball the way he did today in his first start of the year,” Holbrook said.

THREE POINTS

Star of the game: John Jones: The junior college transfer tied the game with a single to center in the fifth and broke it open with a two-RBI single to left center in the sixth to push USC’s lead to 5-1. He is batting .600 with a homer, a double and nine RBIs after the opening weekend.

Play of the game: South Carolina led only 2-1 in the sixth with two outs when Danny Blair bounced what looked like a routine groundball to the shortstop. Blair beat out the throw to first for an infield single to score a run, and Carolina added two more before the inning was over.

Stat of the game: 17: There were 17 position players who saw action, and nine of them got a hit.

OBSERVATIONS

Alex Destino will be fine: The first baseman hit .143 on the weekend and went 0-for-5 Sunday, but hit several balls hard and had some bad luck. While Destino’s frustrated at the moment, Holbrook said he isn’t worried about the sophomore.

Widener was impressive: He had the best command of USC’s three starters this weekend, striking out six without allowing a walk. He was able to keep hitters off balance by throwing his fastball and off-speed pitches for strikes.

Outfield battles TBD: Two outfield positions remain up for grabs after the opening weekend. Dom Thompson-Williams will be in the lineup every day, but no one from the group of TJ Hopkins, Danny Blair and Clark Scolamiero separated themselves over the three games.

NEXT

What: South Carolina vs. Appalachian State

When: 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23

Where: Founders Park

Probable pitchers: USC – Adam Hill (Fr. RHP); Appalachian State – TBD

Watch: SEC Network Plus (Digital)

Radio: 107.5 FM in the Columbia area

This story was originally published February 21, 2016 at 4:40 PM with the headline "South Carolina sweeps Albany with 8-1 victory in finale."