Charleston, S.C. - No. 5 South Carolina scored five runs in the top of the fifth to take a lead they would not relinquish as they defeated The Citadel, 10-4, in front of a season-high 4,087 fans at Riley Park on Wednesday night.
The Gamecocks, who were down 2-1 entering the fifth inning, were able to capitalize on Bulldog miscues all evening as they sent The Citadel (23-13) to their fourth consecutive loss and their fifth loss in seven games.
The Bulldogs scored in the first when Matt Simonelli (Orlando, Fla.) roped a homer over the left field wall off South Carolina starter Colby Holmes to put The Citadel in front, 1-0. A homer by Scott Wingo off Bulldog starter Austin Pritcher (Charleston, S.C.) in the top of the third would then knot the game at one.
The Citadel would chase Holmes in the fourth as Bryan Altman (Summerville, S.C.) singled to left and then Kyle Jordan (Goose Creek, S.C.) drew a walk. An RBI double off the right field wall by David Greene (Columbia, S.C.) scored Altman and prompted South Carolina to make a pitching change to John Taylor who escaped out of the jam.
Things would come unraveled for the Bulldogs in the fifth as Evan Marzilli led off with a double. Two batters later, Wingo reached on an error by first baseman Justin Mackert (Cleveland, Ohio) that allowed Marzilli to score and tie the game. A double by Jackie Bradley Jr., a walk to Brady Thomas and a double by Jeffrey Jones would end the night for Pritcher. Raymond Copenhaver (Apopka, Fla.) then came in and allowed a base hit to Nick Ebert to score the fifth run of the inning for the Gamecocks, all of which were unearned, making it a 6-2 lead for South Carolina.
Holmes went 3.1 innings, allowing five hits, two runs, one walk and striking out four on 54 pitches. Pritcher (2-2) went 4.2 innings, allowing five hits, six runs, one earned run, two walks and three strikeouts on 84 pitches.
Wingo homered again in the sixth, this time off Copenhaver, to increase the South Carolina lead to 7-2. Altman singled in the bottom half of the inning, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Kyle Enders. An errant throw by Taylor in an attempted pick-off move then scored Altman to cut the lead to 7-3.
The Gamecocks would get three more in the eighth as Ebert led the inning off with a walk from Chris Boyce (Simpsonville, S.C.) and then advanced to third on a sac bunt attempt by Adam Matthews that Greene threw past first to allow the runners to advance a base. Adrian Morales then singled to left and advanced to second as William Ladd (Winnsboro, S.C.) misplayed the ball in left allowing both Gamecock runners to score. Later, Wingo would single off new Bulldog reliever Nick Sprowls (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) to score Morales and put the Gamecocks ahead, 10-3.
A plethora of substitutions by both squads saw the Bulldogs score on in the bottom of the ninth as pinch hitter Josh Pless (Boiling Springs, S.C.) hit his first career triple off Parker Bangs to start off the frame. A groundout by Matt Reifsnider (Ormond Beack, Fla.) scored Pless, giving The Citadel their fourth run of the evening. Kirk Sims (Columbia, S.C.) walked to reach base for the first time in his career and Will Darby (Atlanta, Ga.) then followed with a walk of his own, but a pair of new Gamecock relievers would then end the threat and the contest.
Altman went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and a stolen base to lead the Bulldogs. Drew Mahaffey (Summerville, S.C.) pitched a perfect ninth inning in relief. For the Gamecocks, Wingo went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs and three RBI to go with his two homers.
"They got two big two-out base hits there in the fifth that really extended the ballgame and with their pitching it was difficult to get back into it," said head coach Fred Jordan. "I thought we played well in spots and then we made two blunders and they capitalized on them and that's what great clubs do. We have to go out and play one pitch, one inning at a time this weekend and see what happens, it's in their (the players) hands now."
The Citadel returns to conference action on Friday when they host Furman at Riley Park. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. Live play-by-play, video and stats will be available. A box score and recap will follow shortly after the game. Stay current on Bulldog baseball at CitadelSports.com.
