South Carolina baseball freshman Will Sanders returned to his home state and released the best game of his young career. The Peach State native played eight innings in the 5-1 victory over Georgia on Sunday afternoon at Foley Field.
With the victory, the Gamecocks (19-7, 6-3) broke a streak of six consecutive defeats for the Bulldogs. Gamecocks have also won each of their last two SEC series and occupy third place in the SEC East, behind Vanderbilt (8-1) and Tennessee (7-2).
The first four races of the game to South Carolina were on the home run, starting with Brady Allen throw the first pitch of the game on the right wall of the field. The Gamecocks ended the series with eight home runs in total.
Final box score
“It was huge”, head coach Mark Kingston said of the victory of the road series. “It all starts with the pitch launch. Will Sanders it was great today and I think it continues to show the progress and improvement of our team from Texas to Vanderbilt from here. We are improving every week and every time we hit the road. “
Georgia’s initial pitcher Jonathan Cannon he picked up the pile trying to get ahead and his first quick ball in the middle of the board was thrown into the right field. It was Allen’s second home run in the series, when he increased his total to seven in the season, but that number would only increase a few entries later.
The Bulldogs would tie the score at the end of the third inning in an RBI groundout by Cole Tate, who scored Ben Anderson, who knocked out a triple. That would be all that Sanders would allow in the game, and he would retire eight of the nine hitters in a period from the third to the sixth innings.
The largest number of pitches Sanders would throw in an inning was 15, which came at the top of the first inning.
“Everything was really working,” said Sanders. “My move, my slider was sometimes not biting very well. You have to find out what works and stick with it. Sometimes, you won’t have everything you need. You just have to keep fighting and competing. Our team was hitting the lights. Brady Allen’s initial home run was great; great for energy, great for the team. “
Sanders would get more help offensively through the long ball at the top of the fifth entry. Second year Colin Burgess launched a solo home run to the left field for his third explosion of the season. After a single from George CallilAllen went deep for the second time in the afternoon, undoubtedly taking a shot to the left center.
“That was a really talented guy that they put in today,” said Kingston. “Having Brady in the lead, first pitch outside the stadium, really gave us a big boost.”
Burgess scored his second RBI of the game with a sacrificial fly to the left at the top of the sixth entry. With the bases improved, Burgess sent an offspeed throw to the wall. Left field player Riley King made a good move to prevent multiple runs from scoring.
“Colin was great all weekend – defensively, offensively, big strokes,” said Kingston. “It is very good to see.”
Georgia would have no more than one runner at the base at a time after the first inning, when Sanders allowed a pair of singles until the ninth. Sanders hit cleanser hitter Connor Tate with the first shot at the end of the ninth, then gave up a double to put two in a scoring position with no one outside.
Sanders would give way to the southpaw Julian Bosnic, who was looking for his first career defense. The powerful southpaw would leave the two Bulldog runners trapped in a scoring position while he recorded a strikeout, landed and flew to end the game.
“He looked really good,” said Burges of Sanders. “His fastball was elite today, getting it very well. Slider was here and there, but it showed enough. The change was absolutely unrealistic today. “
Sanders ended the day by throwing more than eight entries, allowing for a run won in eight strokes with four eliminations. Bosnic recorded a strikeout on his perfect work inning. The Gamecocks did not take a walk in the afternoon in the game that lasted less than three hours.
South Carolina returns to the field on Tuesday to face North Carolina at Truist Field in Charlotte, NC. The first pitch is scheduled for 7 pm and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.