Gamecocks conclude first weekend of scrimmages

LINK: Photo gallery by Chris Gillespie

The Gamecock baseball team finished its first weekend of spring scrimmages Sunday, and it was another strong showing from the team's newcomers.

After seeing two freshmen homer yesterday, the couple hundred fans at Founders Park saw a few other big performances from new Gamecocks as the Garnet team won 4-3 in 7.5 innings.

Newcomers combined to drive in four runs, including freshman TJ Hopkins's two-run homerun in the second inning.

Junior college transfer Dom Thompson-Williams continued his good weekend on Sunday, going 3-for-4 including the go-ahead RBI-triple in the seventh inning.

After the scrimmage, head coach Chad Holbrook said he was pleased with his younger guys and says they could challenge for a starting spot opening day.

"I told them I don't care if you're 17 or 18 and the other guy is 21 or 22, I'm going to play the best player," he said. "And these young guys have a shot to make a difference."

Freshman Brandon McIlwain, who homered twice Saturday, went hitless in three at-bats with one strikeout. Holbrook said the two-sport athlete had good plate appearances all weekend long, saying he was surprised to see how well he adjusted to the college game.

"He has a gift," Holbrook said. "One of the scouts up there told me one of his biggest gifts is adjusting from pitch to pitch. And you can see it. He has savvy, instincts that a lot of young guys don't have. So he has a chance to really make an impact on our team this year."

Taylor Widener, who missed Fall practices with an arm injury, saw his first action of the Spring Sunday when he started for the Black team. Opposite Widener was Tyler Johnson for the Garnet team. Both pitchers struggled out of the gate, combining to allow four runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings.

"They threw some good pitches in there but they just have to get more consistent," Holbrook said. "Tyler Johnson would throw one 94 or 95 [miles-per-hour] and then would miss the strike zone."

The team still has eight scheduled scrimmages left before opening day on Feb. 19, and Holbrook is pleased on where his team stands right now after only three outings.

"I saw enough this weekend to be excited about a few things and I saw enough to realize we got a long way to go, a lot to work on, a lot to improve upon," Holbrook said. "But all in all a good first weekend."

Starting lineups

Garnet: 1B, Alex Destino; 2B, Matt Williams; 3B, Jonah Bride; SS, LT Tolbert; LF, Brandon McIlwain; CF, TJ Hopkins; RF, Dom Thompson-Williams; C, Hunter Taylor; P, Tyler Johnson

Black: 1B, Ross Grosvenor; 2B, DC Arendas; 3B, Matt Williams; SS, Marcus Mooney; LF, Danny Blair; CF, Clark Scolamiero; RF, Gene Cone; C, Chris Cullen; P, Taylor Widener

Scoring

T2: DC Arendas doubled to left center field to score Chris Cullen, 1-0 Black team; Passed ball by Hunter Taylor, DC Arendas scores, 2-0; Caleb Whitenton grounds into a fielder's choice, Ross Grosvenor scores, 3-0.

B2: TJ Hopkins hits a two-run homer to score Jonah Bride, 3-2 Black team.

B6: Passed ball from Tyler Haswell allows John Jones to score, tied 3-3.

B7: Dom Thompson-Williams tripled to deep left field, LT Tolbert scored from first base, 4-3 Garnet.

Top Hitters

Dom Thompson-Williams: 3-4, 3B, RBI, 2 SB; TJ Hopkins: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI; 2-2, RBI, BB, 2 SB; John Jones: 1-3, 2B, SB

PitchingTyler Johnson: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 K, 0 BB, 1 HBPTaylor Widener: 2 IP, 4 H, 1 HR, 2 ER, 1 KVince Fiori: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 K, 1 BBTyler Haswell: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 K, 1 BB, PBDillon Hodge: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 K, 0 BBKyle Anderson: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 K, 0 BB

News, notes and observations

- Holbrook updated Madison Stokes' injury after Sunday's scrimmage. He said the sophomore infielder will have surgery either Monday or Tuesday and expects to miss eight weeks. This would mean missing roughly a month of the team's season.

- The biggest storyline of the weekend was the dominance of Friday's starters Clarke Schmidt and Braden Webb, both of whom Holbrook said looked "ready to go."

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