Schmidt masterful in final tuneup before SEC play

SEC play doesn’t start until next weekend, but that didn’t stop Clarke Schmidt from getting a taste of it a little bit earlier than usual.

The junior combatted with Michigan State’s Alex Troop Friday in a knock down, drag out pitchers duel in his final tune-up before SEC play.

Schmidt got the better end of the deal, picking up a career-high 12 strikeouts and his third win of the season as the Gamecocks edged the Spartans 3-2.

“That felt like an SEC Friday night game. Every pitcher you’re going to see on the weekend is special. So it definitely felt like that tonight and I knew I had to be crisp, especially in the first three innings,” Schmidt said. “I knew I had to step up big and go deep in the game like tonight.”

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Through the first three innings, Troop and Schmidt were firing on all cylinders. Troop was no-hitting the Gamecocks and allowed just one base runner after hitting Madison Stokes.

Schmidt gave up just one run on four hits and already had five punch outs, four looking. He was throwing 95 miles per hour on his fastball and low 80s on the off-speed pitches.

He only got better as the game went on and temperatures dipped. He picked up seven more strikeouts through 4.1 innings pitched and, entering the eighth inning, was averaging 3.2 pitchers per batter faced.

He finished giving up just two runs (both earned) on eight hits scattered over 7.1 innings.

“He was terrific. His breaking ball was really working. I still think his command of his fastball, he’d probably say it was a C, I’d say it was a B,” head coach Chad Holbrook said. “He could command it better, even though he didn’t have any walks. But he had life on his pitches; he had a great breaking ball. He can be dominant when he’s on, and he was awfully good tonight.”

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Schmidt was coming off a career-high seven walks last Friday against Clemson, and he was determined to not let that happen again.

He pounded the zone, throwing all of his pitches for strikes. Of his 102 pitches thrown, 72 were strikes.

He left Michigan State hitters befuddled all night long as they couldn’t piece together any of the three off-speed pitches he threw: changeup, slider and curveball.

“I had a lot of my pitches working. My slider was working good early and then I started working my curve in with a little more depth cause they hadn’t seen it all day,” Schmidt said. “The first two times through the order I didn’t throw it. My pitch count was great; I didn’t have any walks. Usually I’m a guy that pounds the zone but the past couple of times out there I couldn’t find it as well as I have been.”

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Schmidt said he worked extensively after the Clemson outing in which he earned a no decision in a 2-0 Gamecock win, on his mechanics to shore up his command.

“When I’m staying on the ball, my fastball has so much more life and my off-speed pitches are much sharper,” Schmidt said. “That was indicative of tonight.”

It seemed to have worked, dicing up a Spartan lineup with seven starters hitting at least .300 and four hitting over .375. It’ll serve as a good preview of the real deal when the Gamecocks (10-5) start SEC play next weekend against Tennessee.