Wynkoop, Seddon shine in scrimmage

[rl]

Jack Wynkoop took a big step towards cementing a weekend starting role for South Carolina this season, while Joel Seddon showed he's ready to become a major contributor.

The pair of pitchers were two of the brightest stars in Saturday afternoon's scrimmage at damp and chilly Carolina Stadium, the second of three scheduled on the second weekend of preseason camp leading up to the 2014 season opener on Feb. 14 against Bucknell.

First pitch in Sunday's scrimmage has been moved up to noon to accommodate fans also wishing to attend the women's basketball game at 3 p.m. at Colonial Life Arena.

Wynkoop, a sophomore southpaw from Virginia Beach, allowed just one hit in three innings of work, retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced. Just three balls left the infield against Wynkoop, who was 7-3 with a 3.09 ERA in 64.0 innings pitched last season.

Wynkoop fanned three and recorded four ground ball outs in his continuing bid to secure the No. 2 starting mound job behind Jordan Montgomery.

Seddon threw just 18 innings in 11 appearances last season, but worked a perfect three innings on Saturday for the victorious home team.

The home team plated three runs off visiting team starter Josh Reagan, a freshman lefthander from Lexington, in the bottom of the third. Consecutive singles by Gene Cone, a freshman from Spring Valley High School in Columbia, and Marcus Mooney led to Joey Pankake's RBI single through the hole into left. Moments later, Kyle Martin lined a two-run shot into the right field corner.

The following inning, after the visitors responded by scoring twice on RBI singles by Zack Madden and Patrick Harrington, JUCO transfer Elliott Caldwell, the current favorite to win the starting left field job, tripled to the right-center field gap.

Senior Brison Celek singled through the middle for his first RBI of the day. Martin added a RBI single to right in the bottom of the fifth.

Martin was 2-for-3 with three RBI and a walk in the scrimmage, while Caldwell had a triple and two walks. Pankake collected two singles.

Three expected regulars remained sidelined with injuries and did not play in Saturday's scrimmage: catcher Grayson Greiner, second baseman Max Schrock and centerfielder Tanner English. As a result, coach Chad Holbrook had to rely on his young bench to eat up innings.

After scoring twice in the top of the fourth, the visiting team threatened in the fifth when sophomore lefthander Vince Fiori yielded an infield single and walk to the first two batters.

But Weber Pike chopped a tailor-made double play grounder to Pankake at third, who grabbed the ball and stepped on the bag before firing to first to complete the twin-killing.

The visitors didn't threaten again as Seddon slammed the door over the final three innings.

LINEUPS

VISITOR: Jordan Gore (6), Weber Pike (7), Taylor Widener (3), Matt Williams (5), Jae Roberts (9), Zack Madden (DH), Patrick Harrington (2), Brock Maxwell (8).

HOME: Gene Cone (8), Marcus Mooney (6), Joey Pankake (5), Kyle Martin (3), Elliott Caldwell (7), Brison Celek (DH), Connor Bright (9), D.C. Arendas (4), Logan Koch (2).

PITCHERS

VISITORS: Josh Reagan (1-3), Curt Britt (4-6), Matthew Vogel (7-9)

HOME: Jack Wynkoop (1-3), Vince Fiori (4-6), Joel Seddon (7-9).