Gamecocks bounce back behind big days from Cortes, Hill
South Carolina (25-16, 10-10 SEC) was trounced in the series opener against SEC East leader Kentucky, 19-1. Saturday, the team played inspired baseball, riding a great outing by Adam Hill and another stellar offensive day by Carlos Cortes to a 5-1 victory.
The Gamecocks started the scoring in the second. Freshman Riley Hogan singled to right and advanced to third on a sharply hit grounder by Ross Grosvenor that was mishandled by the Kentucky shortstop. Hogan would score on a one out single by shortstop Madison Stokes. A John Jones fly ball and TJ Hopkins grounder, however, ended the inning before the Gamecocks could do any further damage.
South Carolina broke the game open in the third inning. It started with a Kentucky error, a theme of Game 2. Row hit a rope to third that was ruled an E5. Kentucky pitcher Zach Logue started freshman Carlos Cortes with a high fastball. Cortes put it well over the wall in right field for his sixth homer of the year, all in SEC play.
“I saw a pitch up,” Cortes said. “I try to hit it as hard as I can. When I see a pitch up, that’s usually what I try to do.”
The Gamecocks weren’t finished in the third though, as Jonah Bride reached on a walk and advanced to third on a Jacob Olson single. Ross Grosvenor, making his first start conference start of the year, delivered with a one out single to score Bride.
The Gamecocks tacked on a fifth run in the sixth inning. Hopkins reached on an error by the third baseman and was bunted over to second by Justin Row, who started at second in place of LT Tolbert. Cortes then hit a 3-2 pitch to deep right field for an RBI double.
With the two extra base hits, Cortes raised his OPS in SEC play to an unreal 1.183.
Hill, finally graced with run support, was his usual dominant self, striking out five and allowing just one hit in five-plus innings. The sophomore again struggled with his command, walking three batters and hitting another two. Still, the typically potent Kentucky offense was held in check.
The only blemish on Hill’s statline was a fourth inning home run by Kentucky third baseman Tyler Marshall. Hill threw 93 pitches and was relieved by Josh Reagan in the fifth after a leadoff walk.
Reagan continued what Hill started, allowing just one hit over 2 ⅓ innings. The senior was relieved only when he ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing a walk and a single. Closer Tyler Johnson entered and one spectacular diving stop by Stokes later, the Gamecocks were out of the jam with a 6-4-3 double play.
Johnson worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his seventh save of the year on 15 total pitches. He hit 100 mph on the official South Carolina radar gun for the first time in his career.
Up Next
The rubber match is set for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Head coach Chad Holbrook has not yet decided who will start on the mound for the Gamecocks in what could be labeled a must-win game.
The Gamecocks currently sit three games behind Kentucky in the SEC East standings. A win tomorrow would put them just two back of the Wildcats in the race for the SEC East crown.