April 8, 2008

Box Score

Columbia, S.C. - The 14th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks scored four unearned runs with two outs to pull ahead in the home half of the fourth inning, holding on to down Western Carolina, 9-6, Tuesday night in mid-week, non-conference action at Sarge Frye Field.

The loss snaps Western's six-game winning streak, relegating the Catamounts to 15-16 overall on the season. USC claimed its first win in its last four games, moving to 21-10 overall.

Freshman Ryan Mathews and senior Jason Haynes each posted multiple-hit games for the Catamounts in the loss - its third-straight to USC in the overall series. Mathews was 2-for-4 with an infield single and a solo home run to right field in the fourth. Haynes was a perfect 2-for-2 with a walk, tallying a double and an RBI single.

Catamount sophomore Brent Greer extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a two-RBI single in the third inning, finishing 1-for-5 with a strikeout.

A two-run home run to right center field by Justin Smoaks gave the Gamecocks the early, 2-0, lead after the first inning. But Western rallied back two innings later to grab the lead, 3-2. Freshman Matt Johns drew a lead-off walk, advancing to third on a double off the wall down the left field line by Haynes. Sophomore Tyler Kirkpatrick delivered an RBI single to right field to plate Johns, with Greer looping a single into shallow left to score both Haynes and Kirkpatrick to hand WCU the advantage.

The next inning, Mathews lifted a one-out fly ball to right center which carried over the fence for his fourth homer of the season, staking the Catamounts to a two-run, 4-2, lead.

However, with two outs in the home half of the fourth, a walk and a dropped pop-up kept the frame alive for the Gamecocks putting two aboard. Catcher Kyle Enders grounded to third where Nick Liles made the stab, swiped to attempt the tag on the runner advancing to third, and could not throw on to first in time to load the bases. The next batter, leftfielder DeAngelo Mack, lined a triple to right field to drive in three, later scoring on an RBI single to center by Whit Merrifield to cap the four-run frame.

USC would add one run in the seventh, capitalizing on a Catamount dropped fly ball to pull ahead by three, 7-4.

Western rallied in the eighth, closing the gap to one by utilizing a couple Gamecock miscues. Senior catcher Blake Murphy drew his team-best 29th walk of the season, moving to second on a wild pitch. Sophomore Nick Liles then singled deep into the hole at short, with a throwing error allowing Murphy to touch home and putting Liles at second. Two batters later, Haynes recorded his second hit of the night with an RBI single to left to plate Liles, pulling the score to 7-6.

Yet, the Gamecocks used back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the eight to surge back in front by three, providing the final tally of 9-6. WCU went in order in the top of the ninth with two strikeouts.

Sophomore Daniel Ottone (1-1) was saddled with the loss despite a strong outing. The Cary, N.C., native allowed six runs - only two of which were earned - in 4.2 innings, pitching around a pair of walks with four strikeouts. Juniors Drew Saberhagen and Garrett Ozar combined to work two and a third innings of two-hit relief, with Ozar giving up one unearned run. Sophomore Chris Masters surrendered the two solo homers in one inning with a strikeout.

For South Carolina, three Gamecocks posted multi-hit games as Enders and Mack each went 2-for-4 while Reese Havens was 2-for-5. Starter Sam Dyson (3-0) earned his third victory of the season after going five innings, scattering five hits and four earned runs with five strikeouts. USC pitching combined to record 12 K's on the evening.

Western Carolina returns to Southern Conference action this weekend with a three-game set at Elon. Games one and two are scheduled for first pitch at 7:00 pm, with the series finale at 1:30 pm. All three games will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard on WWCU, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee or online at www.WWCUFM.com.