It was a towering blast to left field, and as soon as it left the bat, everyone at Founders Park knew South Carolina baseball’s Jacob Olson had the Gamecocks’ first home run of the season.
As Olson rounded the bases in the first inning Friday night against VMI, the junior pointed to the sky, like many baseball players do after hitting a homer.
But for Olson, there was much more meaning behind the gesture.
As he told reporters after the game, Olson was pointing upwards to honor his 15-year-old cousin, Brody Ruchti, who died this past December as the result of a gun accident.