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South Carolina defeated Presbyterian 4-0 on Tuesday afternoon on the strength of a strong pitching performance, their fourth consecutive win to start the season.
Carolina didn't break through until the 6th inning against PC, and didn't begin to feel safe until Kyle Martin blasted a three-run home run in the seventh inning to open up some breathing room between the Gamecocks and the Blue Hose.
The Gamecocks only collected six hits - and just two for extra bases, the Martin homer along with a Connor Bright double - on the day, but added nine additional baserunners through seven walks and two hit by pitches. Those 15 baserunners meant that the Gamecocks put on a runner on in seven of their eight at-bats (every inning but the 3rd). So while the four runs and six hits weren't dominant by any stretch, the offense still managed to put itself in a position to score almost every inning.
Three Gamecock pitchers - starting sophomore Curt Britt, freshman Josh Reagan, and junior transfer Cody Mincey - combined to hold Presbyterian to seven singles and just two walks over the nine inning shutout, while adding eight strikeouts as well. The Gamecock defense cleanly fielded the 19 outs in play as well, and Carolina now sports .993 fielding percentage with just one error in their first four games.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| Presbyterian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | X | - | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| WP - Reagan (1-0) | Top Hitters | ||||||||||||
| LP - Kehner (0-1) | Martin - 2-4, 1 HR 3 RBI | ||||||||||||
| Bright - 2-3, 1 2B 1 RBI | |||||||||||||
| Caldwell - 2-3 | |||||||||||||
South Carolina stays in Columbia this weekend to take on the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, who suffered two losses in three games in their opening weekend away to a very middling Alabama State squad. The season really picks up for the Gamecocks the weekend after, when they begin their annual three-game series with Clemson.
