This weekend, the baseball team found out why the University of South Carolina is one of the nation's top-ranked teams.
Currently No. 4 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll and the Collegiate Baseball poll, the South Carolina Gamecocks (13-2) jumped out to early leads in each game of the three-game series and outscored the Bears 33-7 in the sweep. Though the Bears threatened late in Sunday's game, the Gamecocks were able to run away with the series behind solid pitching and even better hitting. After the three losses, Brown's record stands at 1-6.
"South Carolina is very good - I think they're better than the (then-No. 6) Florida State team we played last year," Head Coach Marek Drabinski said. "With the way they swing the bats and play defensively, they are a legitimate World Series contender."
Like last weekend, when Brown committed 21 errors over four games, the team was stung by defensive mistakes in Friday's game. Two Brown errors in the first inning led to two unearned runs and helped the Gamecocks take an early 6-0 lead. Gamecocks pitching then silenced the Brown offense, allowing just five singles and an unearned run. Designated hitter J.J. Eno '08 led the Bears in hitting, going 2-for-4, as Brown fell 13-1. Starting pitcher James Cramphin '07 gave up seven runs - including five earned - over six innings and took the loss.
"Friday was a little disappointing," Drabinski said. "I think we came out a little star-struck early."
The Bears offense didn't fare much better in Saturday's game, as they managed only two runs and four hits, with catcher Devin Thomas '07 and first baseman Jeff Dietz '08 contributing RBI singles. A trio of Brown first-year pitchers - South Carolina native Rob Wilcox '10, Will Weidig '10 and Matt Boylan '10 - was hit hard by the Gamecocks, who scored 11 runs on 13 hits in the 11-2 victory.
Sunday's game was a much closer affair than the previous two, as Brown ace Dietz - who was named the Ivy League Preseason Pitcher of the Year by Collegiate Baseball - took the mound. In the first inning Dietz gave up two first-inning runs on a double to Gamecocks first baseman Justin Smoak, a preseason All-American who went 7-for-11 with a homer and 13 RBIs for the weekend. But Dietz helped himself with a third-inning sacrifice fly that cut the lead to 2-1.
South Carolina tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but the Bears tied the game in the top of the seventh off Thomas' bases-loaded sacrifice fly, which Drabinski said barely missed being a grand slam, and Dietz's two-run single.
The deciding point of the game came in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and runners on first and third, the Bears decided to intentionally walk Smoak to load the bases. The next batter, pinch-hitter Drew Martin, walloped a 1-1 pitch from Dietz over the centerfield wall for a grand slam. South Carolina tacked on another run in the eighth inning and won 9-4.
"Jeff had a good game both at the plate and on the mound," said second baseman and tri-captain Bryan Tews '07. "He only made one bad pitch and it turned out they were ready for it."
Drabinksi said he was happy to see that the team improved as the series went on. He was pleased with the team's pitching, though he said the defense - which committed eight errors over the weekend - still needed work. He also said the team needed to cut down on strikeouts, but credited the deep South Carolina pitching staff for striking out a whopping 39 batters this weekend.
"Everybody they have throws in the upper 80s, lower 90s with power breaking balls," he said. "It's the best pitching we're going to see this year."
Tews said the series was a good experience for the team, despite the sweep.
"It's a pretty good confidence builder because there's nobody remotely comparable to South Carolina," Tews said. "If we can hang around a No. 2 team for seven, eight or nine innings then we have the ability to compete against anyone."
The Bears will have a week and a half to rest before they travel to Connecticut to face Sacred Heart University March 22. The Bears will begin Ivy League play March 31 at Princeton.
