Kentucky clamps down, shuts out Gamecocks 6-0 to tie series
On Kentucky Derby Day, the lead horse at Cliff Hagan Stadium wore Kentucky blue and black.
Dustin Beggs threw a three-hit, complete game shutout while keeping the Gamecocks hitters off-balance, and South Carolina struggled in a 6-0 loss to Kentucky on Saturday.
“The story of this game was Beggs, and he was terrific,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said.
Beggs, a senior who has been Kentucky’s best and most reliable starting pitcher throughout 2016, retired 16 in a row after allowing the first pair of South Carolina batters to reach via error and a walk. Dom Thompson-Williams provided the first hit for the Gamecocks with two outs in the sixth inning.
South Carolina’s hitters had good contact at times, Holbrook said, but many of those hard-hit balls landed in the gloves of Kentucky defenders. Still, Beggs’ location was a riddle the Gamecocks never solved.
“In this league, sometimes you get stuffed, and (Beggs) stuffed us tonight,” Holbrook said.
Beggs’ dominance resulted in the end of Gene Cone’s nation-leading 31-game hitting streak on an 0-for-4 night. The streak dated back to March 5, where he went hitless against Clemson. It was his first time in 22 SEC games that he didn’t record a hit.
“Not a lot of people come here and do that,” Thompson-Williams said of his Cone. “I’m proud of Gene, and everyone’s proud of Gene. Even if you’re not from South Carolina, or not a Gamecock fan, you should be proud of Gene. He’s done a lot of things that other kids don’t do.”
South Carolina (36-10, 16-6) fell behind 3-0 early in the game for a second consecutive night against Kentucky. A soft-hit single sandwiched by a pair of doubles provided the Wildcats with three runs in the second inning.
“Maybe we’ll get ahead in the game (tomorrow),” Holbrook said. “It’s hard to get behind, especially with the way (Beggs) was throwing.”
The Wildcats sprinkled in three runs the rest of the way to provide some insurance, as USC starter Braden Webb struggled with his command. Webb was visibly uncomfortable in the early innings with his footing, and said the pitching mound was higher than the visitor’s bullpen mound that he warmed up on.
Webb allowed five runs on six hits and had three wild pitches while dealing with the mound, which affected his off-speed pitches more often than his fastball – which helped strike out 10 Wildcats batters.
“You can’t be a one-pitch guy in this league,” Holbrook said.
Against a lineup that scored 10 runs on five extra-base hits in the weekend’s first game, Beggs was not a one-pitch guy on Saturday.
This story was originally published May 7, 2016 at 9:24 PM.