South Carolina Baseball Defeats Navy 8-0 in Game Two of the Salute The Troops Weekend

South Carolina baseball bounces back on Saturday with a dominant victory over the Navy Midshipmen. Gamecocks win 8-0 behind big day offensively from true freshman William Craddock.

It was an offensive and defensive masterclass from South Carolina in perhaps their best performance of the young season. Four Gamecock batters produced multi-hit games, while the pitching staff struck out seven with only two walks.

True freshman William Craddock continues to be impressive in the early goings of the season. He finished Saturday afternoon's game 2 for 4 at the plate with no strikeouts, a double, home run, four RBIs, and two runs scored.

Craddock has now combined for four hits on seven at bats with five runs scored, five RBIs, and one home run. This is the second game of his young career, the first being the Gamecocks' second mid-week matchup against Gardner-Webb.

Not to be outdone themselves, the South Carolina pitching staff had a great afternoon on the mound. Amp Phillips got the start and went on to pitch six innings only allowing one hit, gave up no runs, and struck out three Midshipmen batters.

Cooper Parks came into relieve Phillips in the seventh and eighth innings. He finished the night with two hits given up and a strikeout. Lefty Hudson Lee finished the game off for South Carolina as he struck out the side to end the game.

Paul Mainieri and the Gamecocks will wrap up the Salute the Troops weekend on Sunday with a 4:00 pm (ET) matchup against Air Force. Junior Brandon Stone will get the start on the mound for the Garnet and Black. He comes in with a 2.25 ERA and five strikeouts through four innings of work.

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