Friday scrimmage: Notepad scribbles

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South Carolina's baseball team held an intrasquad scrimmage Friday afternoon, and Gamecock Central was there.

The teams played eight innings, with each squad divvying up the innings among three pitchers. Both teams wore garnet hats, white pants and grey jerseys with garnet sleeves.

The away team routed the home team 5-0 behind stellar performances from freshman right-hander Wil Crowe on the mound, freshman right fielder Jae Roberts at the plate and junior Kyle Martin at both.

Crowe and Martin pitched the first six innings for the visitors, allowing just two hits between them while combining for eight strikeouts.

The away team took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Roberts grounded a bases-loaded single into left field off Jordan Montgomery. Left fielder Elliott Caldwell bobbled the ball, allowing Brison Celek to score from second on the play.

The visitors added another run in the fourth inning when Roberts dropped a single into shallow right field to easily score Weber Pike from third. In the sixth inning, it was Roberts' turn to score. The freshman from Columbia, S.C., roped a hard double down the third baseline, stole third on a wild pitch and scored when Gene Cone pushed a single into right field.

The fifth run came in the seventh inning, when Marcus Mooney scored from third on a throwing error at first base.

The Lineups

Home: 2B Jordan Gore, SS DC Arendas, LF Elliott Caldwell, DH Taylor Widener, 1B Connor Bright, 3B Matt Williams, C Patrick Harrington, RF Zach Madden, CF Brock Maxwell.

Pitchers: Jordan Montgomery, Taylor Widener, Cody Mincey.

Away: CF Gene Cone, SS Marcus Mooney, 2B Max Schrock, 3B Joey Pankake, 1B Kyle Martin, LF Weber Pike, DH Brison Celek, C Logan Koch, RF Jae Roberts.

Pitchers: Wil Crowe, Kyle Martin, Hunter Privette.

Top Hitters: Zach Madden went 2-3 with two stolen bases; Gene Cone went 2-5 with an RBI and a stolen base; Max Schrock went 1-1 with a double; Weber Pike went 2-4 with a run scored; Logan Koch went 2-4 with a run scored; and Jae Roberts went 3-4 with a two RBI, a double and a run scored.

Pitching Lines:

Home

Jordan Montgomery - 3 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 R, 4 K.

Taylor Widener - 3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 K.

Cody Mincey - 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 K, 1 HBP.

Away

Wil Crowe 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 Ks

Kyle Martin - 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 Ks

Hunter Privette - 2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 R.

NOTES

INJURY UPDATE. Second baseman Max Schrock strained a back muscle while hitting a double in the first inning. The sophomore ran the bases the rest of the inning, but didn't take the field for the rest of the game after that. Schrock had just returned to 100 percent after not hitting most of the fall. Freshman Matt Williams and sophomore DC Arendas switched off in place of Schrock at second. Arendas, who was injured himself with a sore arm, played the entire game, but could only throw underhanded.

MARTIN ON THE MOUND. It's hard not to like what you see from junior left-hander Kyle Martin on the mound. Surprisingly considering his build, Martin is more of a dart-thrower than a power pitcher; he doesn't bend his back much and lacks an over-powering fastball, but almost all of his pitches have enough movement to keep batters off-balance. Similar Michael Roth, Martin is a junkballer, and like Roth, he's also very effective. The Greenville, S.C., native retired all nine batters he faced today, striking out three.

WEB GEM. The game had plenty of errors that left you scratching your head, but Marcus Mooney made easily the best play of the day at shortstop. Mooney dove to his right to snare a hard grounder in the bottom of the third, then popped up and beamed the ball to first in time to rob Jordan Gore of a base hit, ending the inning and saving a run.

TAKING IT EASY. Junior catcher Grayson Greiner and center fielder Tanner English got the day off.

UP NEXT. The Gamecocks will take the field for another intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at 1 p.m.

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