Schmidt, pitching staff deliver in first test of season

Clarke Schmidt was on cruise control through the first three innings. The junior allowed just one hit and two walks through the first nine outs and the No. 4 Gamecocks led by two.

Then the fourth happened. Dillon Stewart launched a homer to left field to cut the lead in half on Schmidt’s first real mistake of the game.

Stewart rounded the bases slower than Schmidt admitted he liked, and the righty remembered that.

“The second time I went through the lineup and I got to face him again, I kind of amped up on a few of them,” he said. “Anything like that is going to fire you up. You got a lot of adrenaline going when you’re out there. Something small like that could amp you up a little bit.”

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It could have spiraled for the Schmidt and the Gamecocks, up just one against the heart of an offensively potent roster, but it didn’t.

Schmidt responded by sitting down the next three batters to end the half inning and the offense put up four runs in the bottom half of the fourth en route to a 7-1 win on Opening Day.

“I like how our team responded after they hit the home run and cut it to 2-1 and I think we responded with four runs in the next half inning. That was a big moment for our team, big moment in the game,” head coach Chad Holbrook said. “Then Clarke had a couple shutdown innings after that and kind of kept them at bay. Clarke’s special. We know he’s special.”

After the home run, Schmidt allowed just one hit over the next 3.2 innings when he left in the seventh to a standing ovation. It was the junior’s second straight Opening Day win, and he finished with only three hits and two walks.

He struck out three batters, a low mark for a pitcher who tallied a near school record 129 punch-outs.

“They had a really good two-strike approach. They don’t strikeout a bunch,” he said. “I knew going into it I needed to get a lot of ground balls to one, go deep in the game and two, get these guys off balance. For me, I wasn’t really focused on strikeouts. If I can keep my pitch count low and go deep in a game, that’s all I can really ask for.”

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Schmidt did go deep into the game, saving the majority of the bullpen for the rest of the weekend. Colie Bowers was the only relief pitcher, going 2.1 innings and giving up just one hit. He struck out four of the seven batters he faced.

“We thought Colie’s pretty good. He just never found his command last year. He’s a year older and more comfortable here. His changeup was terrific,” Holbrook said. “When he works ahead, he’s awfully tough.”

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The Gamecock (1-0) pitching staff, thought by most of the national media to be one of the best in the country, seemed to deliver in it’s first game. It limited a UNCG team that hit an NCAA-best .346 as a team last season.

Wil Crowe starts tomorrow for South Carolina and Adam Hill rounds out the rotation Sunday. The staff also didn’t use it’s three go-to bullpen guys from last season in Reed Scott, Josh Reagan and Tyler Johnson.

“It’s good to see us play as a unit,” Schmidt said. “We’ve been seeing all the scrimmages and practices but to finally get out there and play as one and see what we can do this year is special.”

First pitch in Game 2 tomorrow is at 2 p.m.