Gamecocks starting pitching troubles could have regional fallout

Traversing the losers bracket in a double-elimination tournament is all but guaranteed to push a baseball team’s pitching staff to its limit.

Through two games of the Columbia Regional, the South Carolina starters haven’t made the task any easier.

In Saturday’s elimination game against Duke, USC’s Braden Webb lasted only three innings a day after ace Clarke Schmidt went four. Conversely, relievers Taylor Widener and Josh Reagan combined to go eight innings in the two games.

Looking forward, the Gamecocks hope to win three games in two days and have already tapped the bullpen heavily.

“We’ve got pitchers in the training room right now,” Holbrook said after the game. “We’re doing every bit of recovery stuff that they can do because there’s no tomorrow and everybody’s got to be on call.”

Six of the Gamecocks’ seven most heavily used arms have thrown, five for more than a full inning. Tyler Johnson got four outs to earn Saturday’s win against Duke, meaning Reed Scott is the only other reliever to throw fewer than three innings.

It puts pressure on freshman starter Adam Hill to do everything he can to preserve the bullpen in Sunday afternoon’s game against either UNCW or Rhode Island. Hill is 6-0 with 66 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings with a 3.64 ERA. He didn’t get out of the third inning in his past two starts.

Holbrook said Reagan could be available before the weekend is out and the same for Webb. The coach noted while Webb has been bothered by a sore foot, he wasn’t pulled because of injury, but because of control issues in a tight game.

Missing chances

As South Carolina watched a 2-0 lead slowly evaporate in Columbia’s famously hot weather, the proceedings took on a flavor reminiscent of many of the Gamecocks’ recent defeats.

They had chances, had guys on base and couldn’t inflict maximum damage.

In the second inning, Gene Cone came to the plate with runners on the corners and one out. He hit into a double play. In the fifth, Jonah Bride hit into his own double play with men on first and second.

This game, though, it didn’t cost them.

“We left a few runs out on the field I think,” Holbrook said. “We’ve got to try to get our guys to relax a little bit, take a deep breath and enjoy playing the game instead of playing with worry or burdens on their shoulders.”

Need more timing

The Gamecocks almost lost another chance with a base running issue in the ninth inning after going ahead 3-2. They had men on first and second after going ahead when Holbrook called for Marcus Mooney to lay down a bunt against a backed up infield. Clark Scolamiero was supposed to take off, round third as the pitcher picked up the ball to throw to first and then dash home.

But Scolamiero got a such lead, he was being waved around before Duke’s pitcher got to the ball, so there was an easy play at home.

“Usually the timing is a little bit better and you can round the base and see the ball coming out of his arm,” Holbrook said. “But he was so far past the bag he was waiting for him to throw, it worked against us that he didn’t make the play.”

Backstop depth

Catcher John Jones didn’t start because he was late for pre-game meal, which gave the start to backup Hunter Taylor, who eventually got the game-winning hit. Taylor fought cramps as he rounded second on the hit, giving way to Chris Cullen for the final defensive inning.

With the heat and schedule ahead, Holbrook said he’ll need every able-bodied catcher he can get. He’d considered Jones or Taylor for Saturday’s start for a simple reason before Jones made the choice for him.

“(Cullen) can’t catch every game,” Holbrook said. “He can’t do it. We’ve got to try to keep him fresh.”

This story was originally published June 4, 2016 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Gamecocks starting pitching troubles could have regional fallout."