Former professional baseball player, manager, and broadcaster Frankie Frisch always worried about one thing: walks. The “Old Flash,” as he was called, is credited with coining the broadcasting phrase, “Oh, those bases on balls.”
College of Charleston head coach Chad Holbrook will lament those bases on balls all the way back to Charleston tonight.
With his team leading South Carolina 3-1 heading to the bottom of the 7th inning at Segra Park in Columbia on Tuesday night, Holbrook’s pitching staff suddenly lost the strike zone. With one out and nobody aboard, the Gamecocks began their comeback with a little help from their lowcountry friends.
A walk to Ethan Petry loaded the bases. However, the College was able to get a second out and cut down a run at home thanks to a ground ball off the bat of USC’s KJ Scobey, and it appeared they might be able to dance out of trouble. But that’s when the Cougars grasp on the lead slipped away.
Back-to-back walks to pinch hitter Kennedy Jones and Dalton Mashore tied the game at 3-3, before the unthinkable happened to Charleston pitcher Hayden Thomas. The Lexington native made a pickoff move towards first but never released the baseball, resulting in a balk, plating Scobey, and giving the Gamecocks a 4-3 lead.
Carolina relievers Ryder Garino and Parker Marlatt pitched the final three innings to close out the Cougars. Garino picked up his second win of the season, allowing no runs on one hit and striking out four. Marlatt nabbed his first save of the season.
USC starter Jarvis Evans, Jr., had another solid outing, working six innings, giving up one run on five hits with five strikeouts. College of Charleston reliever Mike Eggert suffered the loss, allowing three runs on two hits with three walks in two innings of work.
Evan Stone was the only Gamecock with multiple hits as he tallied a pair of singles with a run scored. Ethan Plyler had a big night for the Cougars, racking up three hits, two doubles, and one run scored.
South Carolina (17-5) travels to #3-Arkansas this weekend, while the College of Charleston (12-6) entertains Winthrop on Wednesday night.
Box Score
USC HC Paul Mainieri — Postgame Press Conference