Karch Kowalczyk had a triple and scored Tuesday evening in South Carolina. (Ray Acevedo)
Valparaiso took an early 3-0
lead against #19/23 South Carolina on Tuesday evening at Carolina Stadium in
Columbia, S.C., but the Gamecocks scored 10 times in the third inning,
including eight unearned runs, and defeated the Crusaders 12-4 before 5,295
fans.
The Crusaders scored three
times in the top of the second inning, aided by two South Carolina errors. With runners on second and third, Damon McCormick (Louisville,
Ky./Saint Xavier H.S.) laid down a bunt to
score Billy Cribbs (Rochester, Mich./Rochester
H.S.) and Justin Frane (Huntertown,
Ind./Carroll H.S.) while reaching himself on a throwing error. McCormick then stole second and scored on the
second error of the inning.
Two walks, a hit batter, and
an error set the stage for the big 10-run third inning for the Gamecocks. Eight of the tallies were unearned as Brady
Thomas delivered a two-run double and Adrian Morales added a three-run
double. Whit Merrifield capped the
scoring with a two-run homer, giving South
Carolina a 10-3 lead.
Valpo got a run back in the
fourth as Karch Kowalczyk (Peru, Ill./La
Salle-Peru H.S.) tripled and scored on a ground ball by McCormick, but South Carolina added two
more in the eighth on the way to the victory.
Bryce Shafer
(Wabash, Ind./Northfield
H.S.) suffered the loss (1-1), pitching just 2.2 innings while allowing 10
runs, only two of which were earned. He
allowed four hits and four walks while striking out two. Jon
Gulbransen (Appleton, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran H.S.) came out of
the bullpen to pitch 4.1 innings of scoreless relief, striking out five.
Jose Mata came out of the
bullpen to get the win (1-0), pitching six innings and allowing just two hits
and one run.
Valpo managed just three hits
on the evening, while Merrifield and Morales each had two of South Carolina’s nine hits.
Valparaiso (3-10) and South
Carolina (7-4) will wrap up their two-game midweek
series on Wednesday evening. First pitch
is slated for 1 p.m. CST at Carolina Stadium, with the start time moved due to
forecasted inclement weather later in the evening.
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