Gamecocks drop error-plagued Hoover opener

South Carolina couldn’t even make it out of the first inning during its SEC Tournament opener against Ole Miss on Wednesday, before its typical struggles in Hoover reared their ugly head.

The Gamecocks allowed two runs to score in the first on a throwing error by Marcus Mooney and made defensive lapses throughout the game, a 10-4 loss to the Rebels that sends USC into the loser’s bracket.

USC’s 2-12 in Hoover dating back to 2010, and has dropped seven games in a row at the SEC Tournament.

The Gamecocks will face Texas A&M at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday looking to avoid elimination.

“Momentum was on their side from the get go. We were kind of playing uphill the rest of the way,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said of the first-inning blunder. “We kind of pride ourselves on pitching and defense. … We didn’t do a great job of either one of those today.”

With Tate Blackman on first and two outs in the first inning, USC ace Clarke Schmidt allowed a double to J.B. Woodman.

Blackman tried to score from first, and Mooney’s throw would’ve been in time, but a bad throw allowed Ole Miss to take a 1-0 lead. The ball then got away from catcher Chris Cullen and went into the Ole Miss dugout, allowing Woodman to score, as well.

USC made five errors in the game, topping its season-high by two, as Mooney made another error, third baseman Jonah Bride committed a pair and center fielder Dom Thompson-Williams made one.

“I don’t know exactly if I have the answers today to a couple of the errors,” Holbrook said. “We fielded .980 through 55 games, so we played defense at a high level all year long. This is a little out of character for us. We’ll try to get a couple of things that we saw today corrected and get back to doing what we do well, which is play defense.”

Schmidt didn’t get much help from his defense but had his own struggles, allowing seven hits and walking two in 4 1/3 innings. The sophomore struck out seven, but also gave up seven runs, four earned, and failed to make it out of the fifth inning in his second consecutive start.

Schmidt was moved up a day for the second straight week but said that didn’t factor into his performance.

“I felt like I had a lot of life in my pitches. I had good stuff, but I wasn’t making pitches when I needed to. My typical command wasn’t there,” he said. “There are a few command things I need to work on, working the ball in-and-out a little better, but overall I feel fine. … Moving me up a day, it didn’t affect me.”

USC pounded out 10 hits and was still in the game in the eighth inning, trailing 7-4, but Henri Lartigue hit a three-run homer to right off reliever Taylor Widener to put the game away.

The home run came after a Bride error earlier in the inning allowed a runner to reach with the bases empty and one out.

“We had double digit hits. We did enough there. We’ve gone on to win our fair share of 4-3, 4-2 games, but you can only do that when you pitch and play D. We didn’t do a great job of that today,” Holbrook said.

Gene Cone went 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored to lead USC, while Bride and Madison Stokes each had two hits.

USC stranded 10 base runners and had several chances to cut into the Rebels’ lead, most notably in the sixth inning, when TJ Hopkins popped up on the infield with the bases loaded and two outs.

THREE POINTS

Star of the game: Henri Lartigue: The Ole Miss catcher went 4-for-5 with a home run, three runs scored and four RBIs. His blast in the eighth inning put the game away.

Play of the game: Ole Miss got aggressive in the first inning with Blackman trying to score from first on a double. Mooney had the ball near second base with plenty of time to get the runner at home, but his wild throw allowed Ole Miss to take an early 2-0 lead.

Stat of the game: 5: The five errors by USC are two more than the Gamecocks had committed in any game this year.

OBSERVATIONS

USC didn’t come ready to play: There were too many defensive mistakes committed, mentally and physically, by a team playing for a national seed. USC finished with five errors and came close to committing a couple more.

Gamecocks need Clarke Schmidt to return to form: USC’s ace needed 110 pitches to make it through 4 1/3 innings. In his past two starts he has allowed 11 runs, eight earned, and didn’t make it through the fifth inning in either start.

Jones still has work to do: There was talk that John Jones was back to form after a nice weekend at Alabama, but he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and two lazy fly outs against the Rebels.

NEXT

What: South Carolina vs. Texas A&M

When: 10:30 a.m. Thursday

Where: Hoover Metropolitan Stadium

Probable pitchers: USC – Braden Webb (Fr. RHP); Texas A&M – Brigham Hill (So. RHP)

Watch: SEC Network

Radio: 107.5 FM

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 5:37 PM.