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Both teams' offenses were very quiet in the early going today, with each squad recording only one hit through the first four innings.
The RedHawks broke their scoreless streak in this series in the fifth inning of Sunday's game. Jake Romano and Steve Sada hit back-to-back two-out singles, and a South Carolina error and wild pitch brought them both home.
The Gamecocks answered in the bottom of the inning, taking the lead thanks in large part to Miami (Ohio)'s pitching struggles. Madison Stokes roped a one-out double, then Jordan Gore and Gene Cone coaxed back-to-back two-out walks to load the bases. Elliott Caldwell and Max Schrock followed with walks as well, which brought two runs in and tied the game. A wild pitch got in a third run, giving South Carolina their first lead of the day.
Two more Gamecocks runs came in the seventh inning. Gore led off with a single, Cone walked, and Caldwell singled to load the bases again. After one run scored on a balk, Kyle Martin contributed a sac fly to make it 5-2.
The RedHawks added their final run of the day in the eighth inning on a sac fly from Jacob Wolf.
In his first time as a starter, South Carolina pitcher Clarke Schmidt took a no-hitter into the fifth and did a pretty nice job overall. While one start may not be enough to determine whether or not he'll hang on to the Sunday starting spot going forward, he certainly didn't hurt his case. Vince Fiori and Taylor Widener also took the mound for the Gamecocks in this game. Fiori earned the win and is now 2-0, while Widener got the save, his fifth of the season.
The pitching staff as a whole was really strong during this series, which is hopefully something they can keep building on heading into conference play.
South Carolina improves to 11-3, while Miami (Ohio) drops to 2-8. The Gamecocks will be back in action on Tuesday night, when they host Penn State for a two-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET at Carolina Stadium.