AUBURN, ALA. – Carlos Cortes’ first career homer was a grand slam in the top of the sixth inning and junior right-hander Clarke Schmidt pitched eight scoreless innings to earn his fourth win of the season as fourth ranked South Carolina defeated 10th ranked Auburn 7-0 on Saturday to even a three-game SEC baseball series. The Gamecocks improve to 19-7 and 6-2 in the SEC with Auburn 22-7 and 6-2 in league play.
Schmidt allowed just five hits and three walks and struck out 10 to improve to 4-0 on the year. Auburn right-hander Davis Daniel took the loss and is now 2-1 for the season. He allowed four runs on four hits in 5.1 innings with two walks and four strikeouts.
After going hitless in the first four innings, the Gamecocks strung together three consecutive hits to take a 2-0 lead. Jacob Olson led off with a base hit to left field. Carlos Cortes would drive in Olson with a triple off the wall in right field followed by a RBI single to left-center off the bat of LT Tolbert.
Carolina broke ahead six runs in the sixth inning on Cortes’ grand slam. Jonah Bride singled with one out followed by a walk to Matt Williams. Jacob Olson walked on a 3-2 count with two outs to load the bases. That set the stage for Cortes, who launched a 1-0 pitch from Auburn reliever Corey Herndon over the right field wall to extend the lead to 6-0.
Olson would score his third run of the game in the ninth inning as he doubled to open the frame and scored with two outs on a wild pitch to give Carolina the 7-0 lead.
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GAME CHANGER
Cortes’ grand slam broke open a close two-run game in the sixth inning.
KEY STAT
South Carolina out-hit Auburn 8-5 and left just one runner on base the entire game.
NOTABLES
Jacob Olson went 2-for-3 with three runs scored. Olson’s fifth inning single extended his hitting streak to seven games. He has also reached base safely in 15 straight games.
Cortes’ five RBI tied an individual high by a Gamecock player. Chris Cullen also had five RBI for the Gamecocks on March 7 vs. The Citadel. Cortes finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Matt Williams has reached base in 24 straight games. Williams extended the streak with a walk in the sixth inning.
The Gamecocks are outscoring opponents 78-17 in the middle innings (4-5-6) this year.
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QUOTABLE FROM HEAD COACH CHAD HOLBROOK
“Clarke was the story from a defensive standpoint with the way that he pitched. I thought maybe from the third inning to about the seventh inning is about the best I’ve ever seen him throw. It was very impressive. Carlos started swinging the bat the way we knew he was capable of. Five RBI and the big grand slam there. The thing that stood out to me was the at bat before Carlos, Olson fouled off some balls and didn’t chase a ball in the dirt. I told the team after the game that it was a four-run take. That’s how important that take was. It gets lost in the stat sheet, but not lost in how the game resulted. It was a complete team win. We pitched, played D and got some big hits from Carlos. (SEC road games) are tough and you cherish every one of them when you get a road win in this league.”
QUOTABLE FROM CLARKE SCHMIDT
“First I have to thank my defense. That was an unbelievable performance. Madison, LT, Jonah, Matty, all the double plays. It was special. Early on, this mound is a little steeper than the normal mound that I’m used to throwing off of. I couldn’t adjust to get my slider for strikes. So that was one of my pitches I didn’t get going until the fourth or fifth. I knew I had to get it going. My fastball had life the whole game. It was pretty hard and had good run on it. I was throwing it where I wanted to. I threw a lot of good changeups today. I was happy with this performance.”
QUOTABLE FROM CARLOS CORTES
“I was just looking for a fastball or something I could drive. I had bases loaded, 1-0 count, he couldn’t really throw me anything else, so I was just looking for one pitch, got it and was able to (get) my hands through it and obviously hit it out.
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UP NEXT
South Carolina and Auburn conclude the weekend series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is 2 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on SEC Network Plus and can be heard on the Gamecock IMG Network including flagship station, 107.5 FM, “The Game.”
