Earlier in the game, David Mendham just missed out on a grand slam. It turned into a sacrifice fly for the Gamecocks’ first run of the day, but Mendham wanted another chance with the bases loaded.
He got it in the eighth with the Gamecocks up by one run.
There, he laced a two-out double to left field with the bases loaded, driving in three runs and busting the game open as South Carolina swept its opening weekend series with a 5-1 win over Dayton.
“It was frustrating to miss my pitch but good to help the team win. I was happy about that,” Mendham said. “They had a lot of shifting going on; I could see the outfielder shifting. I was thinking slider. They were throwing me sliders. I knew I had to drive the ball to left field because that’s how they were shifting me."
Mendham’s hit came after George Callil sparked the eventual four-run, delivering a go-ahead RBI double to plate Colin Burgess and break a 1-1 tie that had held for four innings.
It was Callil’s second hit of the day, but the biggest positive was both hits in the eighth were to the opposite field with Mendham’s coming with two outs and Callil’s two strikes.
“It’s a big part of what we’ve been working on in practice,” Callil said. “We’re working that two strike approach and seeing that ball deep and not being too fooled by the spin. I was able to get the barrel to the ball and Mendham worked hard and got us a big hit at the end.”
The Gamecocks (3-0) struggled to find a rhythm offensively in the first seven innings, stranding 11 on base through seven—including the bases loaded twice—and hitting just 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
What kept the game tied was another stellar outing by the bullpen, which combined for 5.2 shutout innings started by Daniel Lloyd 2.2 scoreless.
Lloyd came in with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth and gave up a RBI single to tie the game but retired the final eight batters he faced, three of those on strikeouts.
“He had the one hit to the first guy he faced then really settled down. He gave us a quality outing,” Mark Kingston said. “It was veteran with good stuff that didn’t look like the moment was too big. It shouldn’t be. He’s been in a lot of big innings for us. It was great to hand the ball to a veteran who has good stuff. He came in and did exactly what we wanted.”
Travis Luensmann, making his collegiate debut, pitched a scoreless inning before Brett Kerry (1-0) slammed the door with two scoreless frames and four strikeouts, including three to end the game with two runners on base.
“I thought they looked very good. I think we struck them out 17 times today. That’s hard to do. We feel good about our depth out there. We feel good about our talent out there. It’s a matter of continuing to put them in situations we think they can be successful,” Kingston said.
“I thought Luensmann did a really nice job with power stuff and showed nice composure in a very tight ballgame.”
The day couldn’t have started better for Juilan Bosnic who, after hitting a batter on his first pitch, struck out a school-record eight consecutive batters through three no-hit innings.
Trouble would come in the fourth when a blister on his throwing hand got worse and Bosnic loaded the bases on three straight one-out walks, ending his day with 3.1 hitless innings where he gave up one run one four walks and struck out nine.
“Man, I love seeing that. He’s really good,” Mendham said. “He loves to compete. He’s lights out.”
The Gamecocks have swept opening weekend series in back-to-back years now and did it outscoring Dayton this weekend 29-7 and did it Sunday in a much closer game than the other three.
“You need to have games like that over the course of the year,” Kingston said. “It was nip and tuck there for a while but we pitched well enough and played just enough defense to keep it close and give ourselves a chance.”
Player of the game: Colin Burgess not only scored the go-ahead run but threw a runner out during a key point in the game to end Dayton's seventh inning and preserve a tie game.
Play of the game: George Callil placed a perfect double down the right-field line to drive in the go-ahead run in the eighth and set the stage for Mendham to provide the insurance.
Up next: South Carolina’s first midweek game is scheduled for 4 p.m. on SEC Network Plus Tuesday against Winthrop. No starting pitcher has been named yet.
