Outside of his first pitch—which registered on the gun at 97 miles per hour—Thomas Farr held his emotions close to the vest until the last inning of his outing.
In the sixth, after allowing a home run and a runner at third, Farr struck out Jay Curtis looking on a full count. As Farr walked off the field, at the end of a tremendous Opening Day start, he let out a yell and pumped his fists twice before reaching the dugout.
“The emotions were definitely high. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to pitch a full season. It’s always an adrenalin rush,” Farr said. “To be able to pitch at South Carolina as the Friday night starter, it’s such an honor to do that on Opening Day.”
And it’s hard to blame him for it; he had to keep all those emotions bottled up for 346 days until the Gamecocks played a baseball game and they all came out as Farr dominated and South Carolina crushed Dayton 12-1 Friday.
“Tonight everything the guys worked on we saw,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “We saw some speed, some power. We saw pitchers pounding the strike zone with electric stuff. It’s everything we wanted it to be tonight.”
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Farr, making his first start in almost a year, dominated in six innings. He’d allow just one run on a solo homer and scattered four other hits over his outing while striking out eight and walking two.
Of his 89 pitches, 59 were strikes.
“I mean you saw the fastball up to 97, maybe 98. You saw a power guy, a guy that threw strikes. He only had two walks,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “He got through six innings on less than 90 pitches. That’s exactly what you want out of your Friday night guy. He wanted the ball and he delivered.”
There were only a few tight spots for Farr (1-0, 1.50 ERA) with him putting two on in the second with one out but he’d strike out a batter before a fly out ended the threat. After giving up a homer in the sixth he’d put two on but a strikeout, his eighth of the day, ended the inning with a runner on third and two fist pumps.
Farr didn’t allow a leadoff runner to reach base and Dayton hit 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position against him.
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“One of the big things with quarantine is a lot of people have been visualizing this day. It’s a long time coming, so you’ve been taking mental reps so whenever you do get in those situations you’re fully prepared,” Farr said. “There is no panic. I think that was a big part of today with those jams; being prepared, knowing what you need to do trusting the work you’ve put in.”
Farr was aided by a well-rounded Gamecock offense that went up early and never looked back.
The Gamecocks scored 12 runs on 15 hits and had nine for extra bases: five doubles, two triples and two home runs.
Eight different Gamecocks picked up hits and nine total reached base.
Eyster finished going 3-for-4 with four RBI, all of which came on a grand slam in the third inning. The trio of Eyster, Brady Allen and Wes Clarke combined to go 9-for-10 with nine RBI.
“I think we’re going to be a complete offense with the ability to hit a lot of extra abase its and hit the ball really hard but also hit with two strikes and have good two-strike approach with the ability to battle and draw walks,” Andrew Eyster said. “That’s a big thing. It’s a big range of what we can be as an offense.”
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Play of the game: Early in the game Wes Clarke gave the Gamecocks their first runs in 346 with a three-run shot to straightaway center.
Player of the game: Thomas Farr was electric, ratcheting his fastball up to 97 miles per hour in six innings. He'd give up one run on a solo homer and strike out eight.
Up next: Game two of the series is Saturday at 1 p.m. Brannon Jordan is scheduled to start for South Carolina opposite LHP Ben Olson.
