Dylan Brewer does it all in South Carolina's series opening win
The play was as flawless as it gets. The catch, the spin move, the throw, it was all seamlessly done.
With a runner on second and nobody out in the third inning, Longwood’s Hayden Harris swung at the first pitch and hit a line drive in the air to center field. As the ball got lower and lower, Dylan Brewer made a beautiful sliding grab and quickly got back up to his feet.
As he dove for the ball, he saw the runner at second base too far off the bag. So with a flare for the dramatic, Brewer did a nearly 360-spin and fired a perfect throw to second for a massive double play.
“As I was going to slide, I was like, ‘Okay, I can get him,'” Brewer said. “I slid or whatever and hosed him. I was trying to throw it as hard as I can right at Parker’s (Noland) chest.”
It was one of many big plays from Brewer, as he helped No. 21 South Carolina to a 10-0 win over Longwood on Friday night. It wasn’t just his play on defense, but he also went 3-for-4 with four RBIs in the win.
“The best part was he was still out after I did the spin move,” Brewer said. “I don’t know why I did the spin move, but it’s kind of like, ‘Why did I just do that?’ When they were going to review or whatever, I was just like, ‘Oh, if that’s the reason then I’m going to be mad.’ But the best part was just him being out.”
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Almost right away, the Gamecocks (11-3) found themselves in a run-scoring situation. After pulling off a double steal with one out, Cole Messina grounded out to third, bringing home a run in the first.
In the next inning, Gavin Casas hit a semi-line drive to right field, which looked like it was going to be caught for an out. But instead, the ball went off the right fielder’s glove and allowed both him and Kennedy Jones to reach safely.
One batter later, Will Tippett reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring another run. Then, the big blow came from none other than Brewer, who hit a two-run double over the head of a lunging centerfielder that rolled to the wall.
Leading off the third, Messina hit a long, high fly ball that landed in the left field bleachers. It was a solo homer, his fifth of the year, which extended the Gamecocks’ lead to five runs.
“It went far enough,” Brewer said, guessing how far Messina’s homer went after the distance couldn’t be recorded. “I’m glad he got it. Definitely deserved it.”
In the following inning, South Carolina got another run. That made it four straight innings of scoring at least one run to start the game.
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On the mound, Eli Jones wasn’t perfect, but he was more than good enough to do his part. In the first, he worked himself into and out of a bases-loaded jam with a looking strikeout.
After that, Jones started to settle in and found his rhythm. He’d work himself into a few more tight spots but continued to get out of it unscathed.
Back out for the sixth with 88 pitches, his night was nearing an end. He quickly got the first two outs, looking like he was going to be on track to finish strong. But a two-out triple down the right field line, followed by a walk, made things get a little tight.
“The pitch count got up to the high end of what we were comfortable with. We weren’t going to let him go more than about what he did,” head coach Mark Kingston said.
Despite his pitch count soaring, no movement came from the home bench. This was Jones’ mess to get out of. Ahead in the count 1-2, he struck out leadoff hitter Jared Glinski swinging to end the inning.
Coming off the mound, Jones let out a big roar and hit his chest with his left hand twice. It was a brilliant, shutout outing. He had proven he was more than capable of being the team’s Friday night ace.
“I was throwing really good, I was making good pitches. (Longwood) has a good lineup, very pesky hitters over there — tough outs. And we knew that going into the game,” Jones said. “Obviously, I was on short rest this week, which made it a little tougher, but I just went out there with what I had and how I felt and tried to my best to get one out at a time.”
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In the bottom of the sixth, South Carolina extended its lead as Brewer hit a solo homer over the left field wall, his first of the year.
Parker Marlatt came on in the seventh and struck out the first two batters he faced. He worked around a two-out hit by pitch by getting a groundout to end the frame. In the eighth, he pitched a 1-2-3 frame, with Noland being responsible for each of the three outs.
“He’s a really nice guy to bring in late in the game, whether it’s a clean inning and he kind of gets to just roll through it for his three outs. Or he comes in a big spot like he did before, he’s just a guy that has that 91-93 mile per hour fastball, a good breaking ball, and he pounds the strike zone,” Kingston said.
Still not done with his incredible night, Brewer came up to bat one more time in the bottom of the eighth. He hit his second homer of the game, a solo shot, into the South Carolina bullpen to make it 8-0.
Wanting to join in on the fun, Ethan Petry, who had been 0-for-3, hit a solo homer into the visiting bullpen. That made it a 9-0 game. To cap the night off, Austin Brinling scored from third on a wild pitch to win by run-rule.
Up next: South Carolina will go for the series win over Longwood on Saturday afternoon. Weather permitting, first pitch is at 4 p.m. on SEC Network Plus. Right-hander Dylan Eskew (1-1, 3.29 ERA) will make the start on the mound.
