South Carolina bats spring to life in win against Texas A&M

Dom Thompson-Williams had some built-up frustration entering Sunday’s series finale against Texas A&M. He released a lot of it with two big swings.

The junior hit a pair of home runs, including one that landed well outside of the stadium, to lift USC to a 10-7 win over Texas A&M at Founders Park.

After the Gamecocks dropped the first two games of the series with their offense struggling, Thompson-Williams finished 3-for-3 with four runs scored, three RBIs and two walks. He hadn’t homered in SEC play before hitting two on Sunday.

“We just wanted to come out and prove that if we play to our level, we can compete with any team in the country,” he said. “We found a way to bare down and get the win.”

Thompson-Williams’ first homer came in the second inning to give USC a 1-0 lead.

The Aggies answered back with Hunter Melton blasting a three-run home run in the top of the third before the Gamecocks scored four in the bottom half of the inning.

Alex Destino drove in a run with an RBI single to right and another run scored on the play as the Aggies committed two errors. Thompson-Williams then hit a no-doubter for his second homer of the game. He admired the ball before tossing the bat to the side as USC took the lead for good.

“When Dom put those over the fence, it gave us a sense like, ‘Hey, we can win this thing,’” senior shortstop Marcus Mooney said. “Everyone followed along and we started hitting the ball.”

The Gamecocks finished with 10 hits a night after posting only three and also played small ball. Carolina had a season-high five sac bunts, including two squeeze plays, which both produced a run.

“I tried to go into the mindset today to get a runner in scoring position every inning if we could. That got us a couple of runs,” Carolina coach Chad Holbrook said. “To get a win today, after what happened the first two days, is a good feeling going into the last week of the regular season.”

Adam Hill allowed three runs on five hits in 2 2/3 innings before giving way to Josh Reagan. Reagan earned the win, holding the Aggies to two runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Taylor Widener allowed a two-run homer in 1 2/3 innings of relief, and Tyler Johnson got the final out of the game to earn his sixth save.

The victory leaves USC a game back of Florida in the SEC East standings with three games remaining. Carolina travels to Alabama next weekend, while the Gators play at LSU.

USC also trails Texas A&M and Mississippi State by a half game in the overall SEC standings.

THREE POINTS

Star of the game: Thompson-Williams: The junior hadn’t homered since March 12 before hitting two in back-to-back at-bats. He reached base in all five trips to the plate.

Play of the game: Thompson-Williams’ second home run to give USC the lead was probably the longest homer by a Gamecock this season. It also included a big-league bat flip by the left fielder.

Stat of the game: 5: South Carolina got five hits with runners in scoring position after managing only three in 40 tries in the previous five games.

OBSERVATIONS

TJ Hopkins’ injury could be big: The freshman left the game in the fourth inning with a knee injury and will have an MRI on Monday. He has provided a spark for USC when he’s been in the lineup.

Thompson-Williams heating up: He admitted following Sunday’s game that he is a streaky hitter. He could be on his way to a breakout final few weeks of the season.

Next weeks is huge: South Carolina has four regular season games remaining, and has a good chance to win the SEC East with a strong showing at Alabama. Florida has a one-game lead in the standings, but has a tougher opponent playing at LSU. USC is also still fighting for a national seed.

NEXT

What: South Carolina vs. The Citadel

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Founders Park

Probable pitchers: USC – TBA; The Citadel – TBA

Watch: SEC Network Plus

Radio: 107.5 FM

This story was originally published May 15, 2016 at 7:39 PM with the headline "South Carolina bats spring to life in win against Texas A&M."