May 30, 2014

Montgomery, Gamecocks Clip Camels

By John Whittle

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

@johnmwhittle

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Top-seeded South Carolina scored three runs in the first inning and made it stand up in a 5-2 victory on Friday night over fourth-seeded Campbell in the Columbia Regional. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery threw eight innings to pick up his fifth NCAA Tournament victory of his career.

Montgomery has three Regional victories to his credit, one Super Regional win and a victory in the College World Series during his three-year career. On Friday night against the Fighting Camels (40-20), he was dominant in retiring 19 of 20 hitters during one stretch of the game. And the Gamecocks (43-16) stayed just as dominant at Carolina Stadium, improving to 17-0 in Regional games at Carolina Stadium.

“The reason why we feel so comfortable with him is Jordan is not fazed by too much,” South Carolina coach Chad Holbrook said. “He’s been exceptional in the postseason. In a tight moment, tight game, when I know there might be some tension, we feel very, very comfortable giving the ball to Jordan Montgomery, and he was outstanding tonight.”

The Gamecocks were able to put up just enough offense, scoring three runs in the first inning off Camels starting pitcher Heath Bowers, a 10-game winner with a sub-3.00 ERA. Two more came off of All-American closer Ryan Thompson in the eighth to give the host a comfortable lead made too close for Holbrook’s liking in the end.

The bases were loaded with no one out in the first inning when junior Kyle Martin bounced a two-run single through the right side off Bowers. Sophomore DC Arendas capped the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

“I knew for us to be able to win tonight, we had to have a good start from Heath,” Campbell head coach Greg Goff said. “He was just up in the zone and didn’t locate. I was disappointed in his performance early. I knew if he could settle in, we would score. Once he settled in and put some zeroes up, I thought we had a shot.”

While the offense wasn’t able to do much for South Carolina on the night, Montgomery didn’t need much. After retiring nine straight, the southpaw allowed a solo home run to first baseman Seth LaRue for the Camels’ first run of the game.

Shortstop Marcus Mooney gave the Gamecocks a four-run cushion in the eighth when he dropped a two-out single to right field off of Thompson, who had a 1.22 ERA with 17 saves on the season.

“Marcus is a tough cookie; he’ll fight, scratch and claw,” Holbrook said. “He battled and hit the ball to right field. It was a big hit for us, boy. A big hit for us. That was an awfully big hit, for sure.”

Montgomery retired 10 straight after the home run, which was broken up on a leadoff single to right field in the eighth inning. He left the game after allowing a single to start the ninth giving way to All-SEC performer Joel Seddon.

Seddon’s inherited runner scored, and Campbell had the tying run at the plate with only one out but two strikeouts ended the game and kept South Carolina in the winners’ bracket.  

During his three-year career, Montgomery has a 5-0 postseason record with a 0.93 earned run average. He has allowed only three walks to go along with 35 strikeouts, which include wins over Clemson, Arkansas, Liberty and North Carolina.

South Carolina will take on Maryland in the winners’ bracket game on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Carolina Stadium. Campbell will face Old Dominion in the elimination game on Saturday at 1 p.m. Both games are on ESPN3.