Kyle Enders went 3-for-5 with four RBI including a two-out RBI base hit in the 10th inning to lift South Carolina to a 6-5 win over Brown and sweep a three-game series. The Gamecocks are now 11-4 on the year while Brown is 1-6 for the season. South Carolina returns to action on Tuesday, Mar. 16 against Furman at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. First pitch is 7 p.m.
Ray Tanner postgame interview
The see-saw affair saw the Gamecocks break the tie in extra innings. Freshman outfielder Evan Marzilli would open the 10th inning with a double down the left field line to put a runner on base for the Gamecocks. After a sacrifice bunt by Scott Wingo advanced Marzilli to third, the Bears loaded the bases with a pair of intentional walks to Whit Merrifield and Adrian Morales. Brown reliever Matt Kimball battled and struck out Nick Ebert to get the second out of the inning that set the stage for Enders’ at bat. On a 1-2 count, Enders drilled a pitch on the outside corner to right field for a single scoring Marzilli and giving the Gamecocks a one-run victory.
Kyle Enders postgame interview
Sophomore left-hander Jimmy Revan earned the win in relief after 0.1 innings of work. He is 1-0 on the year. Kimball suffered the loss and is 0-1 on the season. He worked 2.2 innings and allowed one run on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks.
Enders’ three hits were part of a 13-hit attack for the Gamecocks. Christian Walker and Adam Matthews also had two hits apiece for Carolina. Adrian Morales also had a base hit and now owns a 10-game hitting streak. Brown tallied 10 hits including a pair apiece from Matt Colantonio and Daniel Rosoff.
The Gamecocks went ahead first in the game with a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Whit Merrifield had a leadoff single and would score on a two-out RBI base hit by Enders. That advantage increased to 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth when Enders came through with two outs again, this time ripping a base hit up the middle to score Wingo and Morales.
Brown came right back though and cut the deficit to one run again in the top of the sixth as a two-out walk to Ryan Zrenda was followed by a two-run homer by Pete Greskoff. The home run was the lone rough spot for Gamecock starter Tyler Webb, as he bounced back from a tough outing last week to hurl 5.2 innings and allow just two runs on four hits with a career-high seven strikeouts and just one walk allowed.
With South Carolina ahead 3-2, the Bears didn’t quit as they scored two more times in the seventh inning to take a one-run lead. Cody Slaughter was hit by a pitch to open the inning and advanced to second on a single by Daniel Rosoff. Slaughter would then score on a RBI single off the bat of Chris Tanabe to tie the game. With Gamecock reliever Parker Bangs on the hill, Rosoff would score the second run of the frame on a wild pitch.
Trailing 4-3, the Gamecocks struck back in the bottom of the seventh to go up a run on the Bears. Whit Merrifield led off with his second walk of the game and after a sacrifice bunt by Morales would score on a two-run homer by pinch hitter Nick Ebert. Brown went to the bullpen before Ebert’s at bat. Rob Wilcox, Brown’s starter, gave his team a chance with 6.1 innings allowing four runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks allowed. Into the game came Matt Boylan, who was greeted by Ebert, who drove a 1-0 pitch over the right centerfield wall for his first home run of the season and putting Carolina up 5-4. Brown however tied the game in the ninth inning when Zrenda came through with a two-out RBI base hit up the middle that scored Tyler Graham.
