What's Opening Day without a little drama?
South Carolina baseball did not quite find the 20-run outburst it had in last season's opener, but scored five runs in the second inning and rode a very strong Eli Jones outing to a 5-1 victory over Miami (Ohio) at a sold out Founders Park.
Miami (0-1) loaded the bases in the ninth inning and cleanup hitter Ty Batusich worked an 11-pitch at-bat against Garrett Gainey with a 3-2 count. Finally a bouncing ball to short ended the threat, and South Carolina (1-0) completed a win where the only opposing batter to score was the opening one of the game.
"You saw exactly why we threw him out there tonight," Mark Kingston said about Jones. "Good stuff, very mature, no walks, gave up one earned run. That's exactly what we were hoping to get out of him."
And for a team where pitching is going to be the question, it may have been a more reassuring way to start the year than the alternative.
Jones locked in quickly after a bit of a rocky start. He hit the first batter of the game and allowed a single following, but induced a double play from Miami third baseman Ryland Zaborowski to trade two outs for a run and clear the bases. From there, the junior right-hander locked in.
"Obviously there were some jitters early there," Jones said. "I kind of got those out of the way; it's hard not to have them with it being Opening Day. But I was pretty docile, and settled in after that. I think it was a pretty good day."
His stuff was not overpowering, but he picked up right where he left off with his usual efficient, strike-throwing work which induced a ton of soft contact. Eight groundouts overall, in fact, and all three hits he allowed were soft singles that trickled through the infield dirt. The fastball played up to 94 MPH in spots, but sat at around 92 MPH with a solid breaking ball playing off of it. He finished with five strikeouts in six innings of one-run ball, setting the tone for the weekend rotation.
Speaking of setting the tone, the offense’s emotional leader got a big inning going in the second inning. Cleanup hitter Cole Messina roped a double down the right field line to register South Carolina’s first hit of the new season, and he scored the first run when Talmadge LeCroy knocked him in on a single to left. For a minute you would be forgiven for thinking another 20-run explosion was coming, as six straight batters reached base to plate five runs and bust the affair open early.
Transfers Tyler Causey and Blake Jackson each recorded RBIs, and Dylan Brewer just missed recording the first home run of the season with a shot high off the wall.
A four-run cushion was more than enough for Jones to work with, but not enough to prevent some late drama.
Specifically in the seventh inning, when true freshman Eddie Copper loaded the bases on five pitches. Suddenly a casual Opening Day turned into a situation where the unknown visitors had the tying run at the plate, and closer Chris Veach had to start his season a little earlier than anticipated.
Strikeout, flyout, strikeout, and it only took 10 pitches for the closer to extinguish the threat.
Nobody would mistake this South Carolina pitching staff for last season's, not after losing five pitchers to the MLB Draft including its entire initial weekend rotation. In-game management and mound plans are going to have to look different, just as a natural reality of the roster construction. The luxuries of 2023 are not here, at least not yet. And nobody is more aware of that than Kingston.
But Veach is one of the few Gamecocks with an established track record, a bullpen ace receiving his own draft buzz for this June coming off a year where he firmly entrenched himself as the team's closer.
He is this team's best weapon, and picking and choosing spots to deploy him will be a vital piece of the puzzle while everyone around him jockeys for position.
"In a close game like that, with the bases loaded and nobody out, you needed Chris Veach," Kingston said. "You needed a guy who could get some strikeouts, and that's exactly what he did. You've got to be flexible, you've got to be open enough to know that there's certain times that maybe the game can be won in the 6th or 7th rather than in the 9th, and tonight was one of those nights."
Veach tacked on another scoreless frame, and then Liberty transfer Gainey had to clean up another mess in the ninth inning after Austin Williamson allowed two hits to three batters.
Once again the Redhawks brought the tyinhg run to the plate, but their 10th, 11th, and 12th runners left on base of the game capped off South Carolina's victory.
Game two of the series will start at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday with Dylan Eskew starting on the mound for the Gamecocks.
***********************************************************************
Looking for a place to talk about all things South Carolina baseball? Head on over to the Insider’s Forum to discuss your thoughts.
