Recap: Gamecocks beat The Citadel in Charleston

South Carolina faced The Citadel Tuesday night at Joe Riley Park in Charleston. Here is a recap of what happened:

LINESCORE

USC: 004 010 100 = 6-15-0

CIT: 000 003 000 = 3-6-4

WP – Adam Hill (2-0)

LP – Jacob Watcher (1-1)

SV – Josh Reagan (3)

HR – None.

HIGHLIGHTS:

-- Gamecocks stay unbeaten at 9-0 and face rival Clemson this weekend in a 3-game series beginning Friday night at Founders Park.

-- The Gamecocks loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the first off The Citadel starter Jacob Watcher, but Gene Cone grounded into a 4-6 forceout to end the threat. Dom Thompson-Williams led off with a sharp double into the right-field corner, but was quickly picked off 1-5-4.

-- Freshman RHP Adam Hill picked up where he left off in his first career start against Appalachian State a week ago by striking out the Citadel side in the bottom of the first. That gave the T.L. Hanna graduate 14 strikeouts in his first 7.0 innings pitched.

-- The Gamecocks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third on three straight hard hit balls. John Jones ripped a double to right for his fifth extra-base hit of the season. Destino followed with a RBI single to right for his second hit of the night, and raced to second when the throw home by The Citadel RF was up the line and couldn’t be handed by the Bulldogs catcher. Moments later, Freshman catcher Chris Cullen crushed a double off the left-field wall for a RBI double, giving USC a 2-0 lead.

-- After Cullen was balked to third, Cone walked to put runners on the corners with one out, setting the stage for some controversy. D.C. Arendas hit a grounder to The Citadel shortstop, who tried to step on second base before firing to first for the supposed inning-ending double play. But the second base umpire ruled he did not touch the bag, so Cullen scored and the inning went on. Cone quickly scored on Money’s RBI single to right, giving the Gamecocks a 4-0 lead.

-- Because of a 5-4-3 double play in the second inning and a caught stealing in the third, Hill faced the minimum nine Citadel batters through three innings.

-- After USC left two runners stranded in the top of the fourth, The Citadel had first and third with one out in the bottom half of the inning, but Hill worked out of the jam with a popup behind second base.

-- USC expanded its lead to 5-0 in the top of the fifth when D.C. Arendas singled and moved to second on a throwing error. Freshman Danny Blair doubled him home by poking a pitch over third base. It was Blair’s third RBI of the season in his 13th AB.

-- A 2-out error by the Citadel first baseman allowed the Gamecocks to load the bases in the top of the sixth, but a flyout ended the inning. It was the second time the Gamecocks left the bases loaded and increased their LOB total to 11 through 6 innings.

-- Tyler Johnson replaced Hill on the mound at the start of the bottom of the sixth. Hill departed after allowing three hits and striking out eight Citadel batters in 5.0 innings. He threw 91 pitches.

-- Johnson was roughed up by The Citadel in one-third of an inning, allowing a double, infield single, walk and bases-clearing double off the left-field wall. All of a sudden, the Gamecocks’ comfortable 5-run lead was reduced to two runs (5-3). Brandon Murray replaced Johnson and settled things down with a strikeout and groundout to end the inning. The Gamecocks entered the late innings with a two-run lead (5-3).

-- The Gamecocks got a run back in the top of the seventh with some two-out lightning. Thompson-Williams singled, stole second and scored on Bride’s single to right. The Citadel right-fielder airmailed the throw home, allowing DTW to score stranding up. The Citadel catcher? He wasn’t happy.

-- Murray protected the three-run lead (6-3) by setting down the Bulldogs easily in the bottom of the seventh on a comebacker to the mound, popup and strikeout.

-- Josh Reagan set down The Citadel in order in the bottom of the ninth for his third save of the season. Four Gamecocks pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts. Murray and Reagan combined to retire the last 11 Citadel batters in a row after the Bulldogs scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the sixth.

-- Six different Gamecocks had one RBI each. USC finished with 15 hits and 16 LOB. Dom Thompson Williams had 3 hits for USC, while four players had two hits apiece.

HOW THE RUNS SCORED:

USC 3rd - Bride grounded to first, Jones doubled to right, Destino singled to right (RBI) and moved to second on throwing error (E9), Cullen doubled to left (RBI), Cullen advanced to 3B on balk, Cone walked, Arendas grounded to short (RBI)(Cone advanced to 2B), Mooney singled to right (RBI), Blair grounded to pitcher. FOUR RUNS, FOUR HITS (USC 4-0).

USC 5th – Cone flied to left, Arendas singled and advanced to second on a throwing error (E6), Mooney flied to center, Blair doubled down left field line (RBI), Thompson-Williams grounded to pitcher. ONE RUN, TWO HITS (USC 5-0).

CIT 6th – Smith struckout, Watcher doubled to left-center, Mapes singled behind second base, Windham walked, Ellis doubled to left (3 RBI), <MURRAY FOR JOHNSON>, Hansen struckout, Peden grounded to second. THREE RUNS, THREE HITS (USC 5-3).

USC 7th – Mooney walked, Blair struckout, Mooney picked off first (1-3), Thompson-Williams singled to right, Thompson-Williams stole second, Bride signed to right (RBI) and advanced to second on throw home, Jones intentionally walked, Destino flied to center. ONE RUN, TWO HITS (USC 6-3).