South Carolina finishes off Salute the Troops Weekend with win over Air Force

Off the bat, it looked like a flyout to right field, and perhaps on most days, it would have been. But not with the wind blowing out, and certainly not with South Carolina’s hottest hitter at the plate.

With winds gusting to around 16 miles per hour, Will Craddock’s fly ball turned into something more. It kept carrying as Air Force right fielder Brooks Burdine drifted back to the wall, looking confused about what had just happened.

“I can pretty much judge when a ball is going to be gone or not, after being as old as I am and seeing so many balls hit through the years,” head coach Paul Mainieri said. “But I thought Will crushed it, and he told me, ‘When I hit it, there was no doubt it was gone.’ We were fortunate it went out.”

Instead, the seemingly routine flyout turned into a leadoff home run for Craddock, who has now accomplished that feat in back-to-back games. It helped get the Gamecocks off to another good start in a 4-2 win over Air Force to wrap up Salute the Troops Weekend on Sunday.

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Craddock’s first week of college baseball couldn’t have gone much better as the freshman first baseman went 8-for-15 (.533) with two homers and six RBI. He finished 2-for-4 with a solo shot and a double in the weekend finale.

The Gamecocks (6-2) didn’t have their best day at the plate, but they did enough early to create some breathing room. They broke out for three more runs in the second inning, starting with an RBI single by Beau Hollins, who went 2-for-2 and reached base in his three plate appearances.

Luke Yuhasz later grounded out to third base with no outs to bring home Hollins. After another base hit for Craddock, Patrick Evans laced an RBI double down the left-field line.

“I really attribute it to outstanding relief pitching by (Air Force),” Mainieri said on the lack of run scoring after a fast start. “They had really good relievers, and we had really good relievers, and the conditions were really difficult to hit in. So there wasn’t much scoring after his first couple innings. I just thought our bullpen just did a tremendous job, and we did just enough to win. So it was a gritty, hard-fought win for us.”

Brandon Stone didn’t give the Gamecocks much length in his second start of the year, largely because of a 34-pitch first inning. As a result, the right-hander lasted only three innings, allowing one run while striking out five and walking two. But the bullpen did its job in picking him up.

Logan Prisco gave up one run in 1.1 innings of work and walked one over 35 pitches. Zach Russell allowed one hit and struck out two over 1.2 innings. Russell picked up his second win of the year and hasn’t given up a run in any of his three appearances so far this year.

“I’d say just attacking the zone, getting ahead,” Russell said on what’s worked best for him. “It’s a problem I kind of had last year. Just walks, not getting ahead. I’ve been throwing a new cutter that’s been working pretty good.”

Alex Valentin went the final three innings and picked up his second save of the year. He struck out three while allowing only one hit.

The left-hander has proven capable of pitching well in relief, but Mainieri isn’t entirely sure how the Gamecocks will use him moving forward, whether that means keeping him in the bullpen or shifting him into a different role.

“Alex is fearless. I mean, he’s got talent,” Mainieri said. “He throws up to 94 miles an hour left-handed, and he’s got a good slider and a good change-up, but the biggest thing of all is he’s fearless. … He thinks he can do anything out there, and I love that about him. He’s a great competitor, throws a lot of strikes. What’s not to like? I think he’s outstanding. I think he could handle any role we give him.”

Up next: South Carolina will host Queens on Wednesday evening at Founders Park. First pitch will be at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.