Gamecocks don’t let first loss define weekend
At the end of a difficult Opening Day loss Friday evening, South Carolina baseball coach Chad Holbrook sat at the podium and pointed out one good thing about the sport: “You get to play again real quick.”
Unlike football, where the hand-wringing over a poorly-played game can last a week, baseball allows the players to wash the slate clean and start fresh the next day. The No. 13 Gamecocks took advantage of that over the weekend, when they turned a deflating 6-3 loss Friday into a series win Saturday by defeating a good College of Charleston team in a doubleheader, 7-1 and 8-3.
If that looked like the Gamecocks’ first test of the season, they passed it.
Holbrook is smart enough to know that one loss is never going to define a team over the course of a 56-game regular season. The key is to pile up as many series wins over quality teams as possible, and beating the Cougars in two-of-three fits that description.
Not that Holbrook wasn’t upset after the Opening Day loss, when starting left-hander Jack Wynkoop scuffled on the mound and the lineup mustered four singles. He admitted to not getting any sleep – mad at himself for the way he managed the game. It also stung that his players didn’t display the energy and enthusiasm that everyone expects from this program.
But all those bad feelings were washed away when the Gamecocks scored five runs in the first two innings of Saturday’s first game, and sophomore right-hander Wil Crowe struck out a career-high 10 while looking every bit the ace.
A pair of seniors stepped forward on the day, with first baseman Kyle Martin going 4-for-8 with two RBIs and right-fielder Connor Bright going 3-for-7 with a solo home run and two RBIs.
Holbrook loved how fiery sophomore utilityman Jordan Gore, who had four RBIs on three hits Saturday, vocally pushed his teammates to compete harder. His pugnacity led the coach to compare him to former third baseman Adrian Morales, the sparkplug on the two national championship teams.
“We completed a little bit harder. We were more locked in,” Holbrook said. “Their pride was hurt with the way they played (Friday). They wanted to make up for it.”
Freshmen came up big as well, as Holbrook cited the maturity and poise shown by designated hitter Alex Destino, who blasted a two-run, tie-breaking homer in the sixth inning of the series-clinching victory, and third baseman Madison Stokes, who had a key two-run single in the same game.
And in his first outing as the team’s closer, hard-throwing sophomore right-hander Taylor Widener filled the bill with six strikeouts in 21/3 scoreless innings.
“It was good to see the boys respond the right way,” said Holbrook, sitting again at the podium about 24 hours after the opening loss. “We challenged them. They responded. They played like South Carolina Gamecocks are supposed to play.”
That’s what makes baseball special. One day can make all the difference in the world.