Two-out hitting makes the difference for South Carolina in midweek win at Winthrop

Nothing better than a good piece of two-out hitting to break out of an early slump.

After being one of South Carolina’s most productive hitters in the preseason, Talmadge LeCroy had gotten off to a slow start to begin the new year. Coming into the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game at Winthrop, the senior catcher was hitless in his first nine at-bats.

With two outs, the Gamecocks put two runners aboard after back-to-back singles from Ethan Petry and Kennedy Jones. On a 3-2 pitch down and in, LeCroy put a good swing on the ball, hitting a double that one hopped the left field wall, plating two runs to put South Carolina back ahead by a run.

Later in the sixth, Nathan Hall delivered another big two-out hit for the Gamecocks, this time an RBI double that scored KJ Scobey all the way from first base. These two swings propelled South Carolina (4-0) to a 5-3 win over Winthrop in its first midweek game of the season.

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Up to that point, it had been a quiet afternoon for the bats. Jones had given the Gamecocks an early 2-0 lead with a two-run homer in the first. After that, the next big hit wouldn’t come until the fifth, which allowed the Eagles to come back and take the lead, scoring three runs off Jarvis Evans Jr.

Evans made it through 3.1 innings with five strikeouts and no walks, but he got himself into a two-runner jam with one out in the fourth. This ended his afternoon and summoned the bullpen to come into duty early on.

Brandon Stone had the tall task of trying to get out of Evans’ mess, which he nearly did without giving up a run. But an immediate double steal by Winthrop and a high chopping ground ball to first base led to a play at the plate to score a run.

From there, Stone struck out the final two batters to avoid further trouble and settle in for the rest of his outing. Including the last two outs of the fourth, the right-hander retired the final 11 batters he faced, striking out three on the day.

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The bullpen’s run of dominance continued on after Stone came out of the game. Parker Marlatt retired the side in order in the eighth. Then in the ninth, Brendan Sweeney came in to try and seal the deal.

Winthrop broke an 0-for-15 skid with a one-out single. The Eagles eventually brought the winning run to the plate with two outs. But Sweeney struck out the final batter he faced on three pitches for his second save of the year.

Up next: South Carolina returns home to Founders Park for its second straight day of midweek action. The Gamecocks will take on Queens with first pitch at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. The game will be available to watch on SEC Network Plus.

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