Brewer's late go-ahead hit gives South Carolina big midweek victory
For most of the night, South Carolina had done little to nothing with runners on base. Through seven innings, the Gamecocks were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Then Dylan Brewer came up to bat with a chance to break that skid. With a runner on second and one out in the eighth, Brewer unloaded on an 0-1 pitch and laced a deep fly ball into the right center field gap.
“Not trying to do too much, I got into a spot where I was trying to do that, just trying to be the hero all the time. I kind of got back to being simple,” Brewer said.
Talmadge LeCroy scored from second without much worry. Brewer chugged his way around second and dashed for third. Though he would be originally called safe at third, the call was eventually changed to an out.
But either way, it didn’t really make much of a difference. Brewer had given South Carolina (23-10, 6-6 SEC) some much-needed life to hold on to win 2-1 over No. 13 North Carolina on Tuesday in Charlotte.
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Coming into the game, Brewer had been 9-for-55 (.155) at the plate since March 9. But the Gamecock centerfielder had a big night as he went 3-for-4.
“Dylan made a slight adjustment offensively that obviously paid dividends very quickly. We need him playing like that,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “When he’s playing like that, if we can get to the point where all our guys are at least playing close to their level of play, then I think we’ll have a really, really good offense. We’re not there yet, but it was his night tonight. And we just need to keep working with guys so we can get them all humming like that.”
Dylan Eskew got the start on the mound after making his last two appearances out of the bullpen. In what was a chance to bounce back, he only last 3.1 innings. Although, he didn’t allow a run and gave up four hits while striking out one and walking two.
But with him working into jams as his start went on, a change became apparent before things unraveled. So the Gamecocks turned to Kimball, who quickly got a 6-4-3 double play to end the fourth.
And in the fifth, Kimball would show some of his best stuff of the whole season as he retired the side in order. He did it all with three straight strikeouts.
He’d continue to pitch well going into the sixth as he finished his night with five strikeouts to one walk while throwing 39 pitches. Including his last outing against Texas A&M, he’s now allowed one run while striking out nine and walking three over his last six innings of work.
“I see a more confident guy. I see a guy that’s kind of in control of his emotions. A couple weeks ago, we left him behind on a roadtrip so he could have a reset,” Kingston said.
“He met with our sports psychologist, Rayleen. And he’s been a different guy ever since. He took the chance to clear his head, she talked about some strategies that he could do to kind of make sure he’s under control, and he’s really run with it. His mechanics have been better. He looks like he’s much more under control and confident. He’s been dominant ever since. Sometimes it’s great to take a step back to try to take three or four forward.”
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After Parker Marlatt blew South Carolina’s 1-0 lead in the seventh, Connor McCreery came in and picked up a strikeout to prevent further damage.
“That first-pitch strike I threw, as soon as I got into the game, I just knew I had it,” McCreery said. “I was calm, I was breathing, I had my poise. When I knew I have that, it’s a problem.”
Normally in these situations, the Gamecocks would turn to their big guns like Chris Veach and Garrett Gainey. But instead, they road the hot hand McCreery in the eighth. And after a bad pickoff throw advanced the tying run to second base, the right-hander responded with a strikeout to get out of the jam.
Back out for the ninth, McCreery retired the side in order to finish off an incredible outing. He ended his night going 2.1 innings, allowing one hit while striking out five. He did it all on 35 pitches, the most he’s thrown this season.
Up next: South Carolina will head to Gainesville for a rematch of last year’s Super Regional. The Gamecocks will face No. 24 Florida for the start of a three-game series on Friday. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network Plus. Right-hander Eli Jones (2-2, 3.89 ERA) would be the presumable starter on the mound.
