COLUMBIA, S.C. – Presbyterian College baseball fought off a ninth-inning comeback from the No. 27 South Carolina Gamecocks on Tuesday night at Carolina Stadium, winning in the 10th inning on a Brandon Martin (Gray Court, S.C.) go-ahead triple to give the Blue Hose their first win over South Carolina since 1948, 7-4.
PC (22-15) snapped a 10-game losing streak against South Carolina (23-15) with the result and won their fifth straight game. The win also marked the first time Blue Hose baseball beat South Carolina and Clemson in the same season since 1942. PC will host NC Central on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
After the Gamecocks scored a run in the ninth to tie the game, 4-4, AJ Priaulx (Warner Robins, Ga.) and Jacob Midkiff (Rock Hill, S.C.) hit back-to-back singles to lead off the 10th. Brandon Martin looked to bunt on two straight pitches, only to smack a triple into the right corner to give PC a 6-4 lead. Glen Casaceli (Jupiter, Fla.) followed up by singling through the left side to bring home Martin and extend the Blue Hose lead, 7-4.
Ethan Wortkoetter (Greer, S.C.) pulled PC out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and continued to deal in the extra frame. After a leadoff single, the sophomore struck out Logan Koch and Jordan Gore. Martin, the hero on offense, then caught a lazy fly ball to right for the final out.
Wortkoetter improved to 3-2 with the win while Cody Mincey fell to 1-2. Martin went 3-for-4 on the day and Midkiff went 4-for-5. Ryan Hedrick (High Point, N.C.) hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to give the Blue Hose their first lead of the night.
PC grabbed a 4-0 in the second inning and clung to its lead as the Gamecocks scratched out two runs in the third and one in the sixth. The Gamecocks eventually took advantage of two PC errors to score the tying run with one out in the ninth. Wortkoetter entered the game and stopped the rally, however, getting a force play at home and a flyout to center to leave the bases full of Gamecocks.
The Blue Hose made the most of their second chance.
Brian Kehner (Marietta, Ga.) delivered a strong start, going five innings for six hits and three runs with five strikeouts and no walks. Aaron Lesiak (Greenville, S.C.) pitched two hitless innings in relief.
Cam McRae (Darlington, S.C.) registered PC's first hit of the game and Ryan Hedrick took advantage, walloping the first pitch he saw into the left field bleachers for a 2-0 home run. PC kept its offense rolling as Midkiff hit a double to the wall before Brandon Martin beat out a bunt to put runners on the corners with one away to bring up Billy Motroni. Martin began to run during a 1-0 pitch and Motroni knocked an RBI single to center, scoring Midkiff.
McRae's hit extended his reached base streak to 20 games. The streak marks the longest since Brad Zebedis's 20-game streak in 2011 and stands seven shy of Kenny Bryant's Division I-best record of 27 in 2010.
USC turned to the bullpen in the second, bringing in Canaan Cropper. PC scored one final run in the inning when Billy Motroni (Goose Creek, S.C.) stole second and the throw sailed into centerfield to score Martin from third. The play gave the Blue Hose a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second.
Motroni finished with two hits on the evening.
South Carolina cut the lead in half when an Elliott Caldwell single found its way through the middle to plate a pair in the bottom of the third. Kehner immediately recovered, picking off Caldwell to end the inning.
PC put two aboard in the fourth on back-to-back singles from Midkiff and Martin but could not convert. Kehner came through in the fifth to keep the Gamecocks from scoring, however, striking out the red-hot Kyle Martin with runners on the corners to end the inning.
The Gamecocks made their move in the sixth. A leadoff triple from Elliott Caldwell brought Lesiak to the mound. One walk later, DC Arendas hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield that Tyler Weyenberg (Marietta, Ga.) made a sliding catch to grab and sprang up to nearly gun down Caldwell at home.
PC held in the seventh. Midkiff stopped two frozen ropes at first base to help retire the home side in order and preserve PC's lead.
South Carolina threatened again in the ninth, putting runners on the corners with two outs and prompting PC to turn to Thompson. A fly ball appeared headed for a sure double, but a speeding Brandon Martin tracked down the chance for the third out to keep the Gamecocks quiet in the eighth.
Jay Lizanich (Greer, S.C.) walked three times and Tyler Weyenberg (Marietta, Ga.) saw his 12-game hitting streak snapped in the effort.
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Presbyterian College 040 000 000 3 - 7 13 3 (22-15)
South Carolina...... 002 001 001 0 - 4 8 1 (23-15)
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Pitchers: Presbyterian College - KEHNER, Brian; LESIAK, Aaron(6); DEAL, Hayden(8);
THOMPSON, Russell(8); WORTKOETTER, Ethan(9) and McRAE, Cam; BURT, Patrick. South Carolina -
Tyler Johnson; Canaan Cropper(2); Josh Reagan(4); Brandon Murray(7); Cody Mincey(7);
Clarke Schmidt(10) and Jared Martin; Logan Koch.
Win-WORTKOETTER, Ethan(3-2) Loss-Cody Mincey(1-2) T-3:42 A-7049
HR PC - HEDRICK, Ryan (3).
Weather: Partly cloudy, 84 dg, WSW 8mph
KEHNER, B. faced 1 batter in the 6th.
