Gamecocks bats come alive, beat Furman 9-2

June 9, 2013; Cary, NC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks first baseman Kyle Martin (left) is greeted by teammate Evan Beal (14) after scoring a run against the North Carolina Tarheels during the Chapel Hill Super Regional at Boshamer Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

The South Carolina Gamecocks got a much needed strong performance from their both their pitching staff and their offense, while taking advantage of some miscues by Furman (11-22), as they ran away with a 9-2 win in Greenville.

The Gamecocks’ bats, which had scored just five runs in the past four games, put up seven in the first three innings of this one alone.

Four RBI were courtesy of Kyle Martin as part of a 3-4 evening. He picked up an RBI single in the 1st and stroked a three-run bomb to right in the 3rd to make it 6-2, followed by an Elliot Caldwell single later in the frame to make it 7-2. He would then bring around another runner on a single coupled with another Furman error in the 7th.

Evan Beal struggled a little in 1.1 innings for the Gamecocks (27-5) as he allowed two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out none. But Taylor Widener stepped in and put together 4.2 rock-solid innings of one-hit, shutout ball–walking one and striking out four.

South Carolina (4th in the writer’s poll) takes the short drive back to Carolina Stadium to get back to work in SEC play, where they’re 7-5. Coming to town will be #24 Florida (7pm Friday, 4pm Saturday, 1:30pm Sunday)