South Carolina baseball: Gamecocks drop series to Texas

South Carolina baseball dropped a tough road series vs. Texas.

The South Carolina baseball team entered the weekend sitting at 11-0, putting their unblemished record on the line in a road series with the No. 19 Texas Longhorns. Unfortunately, the Gamecocks limped out of Austin with three losses and a lot of question marks as they prepare for conference play.

The South Carolina bats were never as consistent as they needed to be, and the Longhorns used some fantastic pitching and defense to pull the three-game sweep, moving their all-time record against the Gamecocks to 6-0.

In game one, we saw the classic pitching duel that many expected between two future first-round picks in Ty Madden and Thomas Farr. Madden allowed just one run over seven innings of work, striking out five Gamecock hitters and surrendering just three hits.

Farr matched Madden, giving up a lone run over six innings, and striking out 10 Longhorns. Unfortunately, the bullpen let the Gamecocks down, with Texas scoring three runs in their last at bat to push a tie game into a 4-1 Longhorn lead. Freshman Will Sanders picked up the loss, allowing three runs without recording an out.

South Carolina had its opportunities against Madden and the Texas pitching staff, but hit some ‘at-em’ balls and missed out on a few homeruns that were knocked down by a gusting wind moving from right field out to left.

The Longhorns, on the other hand, got a few great hops in the eighth inning, starting off with a lead off triple that took a bad bounce for Gamecock right fielder Andrew Eyster. A walk followed the triple, before Zach Zubia roped a double just inside the right field line to plate two runs. South Carolina couldn’t recover, and fell for the first time of the season.

Game two saw more great pitching, as the two teams combined to allow just three runs. Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, all three runs were scored by their opponent. Texas hit a couple of solo home runs in the fifth, one which was wind-aided, and one that certainly was not. They tacked on another run in the eighth to pick up a 3-0 win.

South Carolina tallied seven hits, but struggled with runners on. Texas only recorded four hits, but three went for extra bases. The long balls were the difference in the game, which was an area the Gamecocks seemed to have the advantage when entering the series.

Game three went off the rails early for South Carolina, as starter Julian Bosnic allowed his first run in a Gamecock uniform. Texas scored at least one run in each of the first four frames, building a quick 8-2 lead. The Gamecocks tried to battle back but never got within striking distance, eventually falling 8-5.

The three consecutive losses have many fans wondering just how good the team is, particularly with a road series against No. 2 Vanderbilt waiting in the wings.

Mark Kingston addressed the media following Sunday’s defeat.

"“Disappointed with the weekend results, but we learned a lot about this team that we can take forward, both good and bad. We learned a lot about this team and this squad. We’ll make whatever adjustments we feel like we need to make, and we’ll be better for having played this weekend.”"

PLAYERS OF THE WEEKEND

Texas pitching staff

The Longhorn staff combined to allow just nine runs over three games. The starting pitching was even better, with Ty Madden, Tristan Stevens, and Kole Kublichek surrendering just three runs and 13 hits in 17 innings of work, while striking out 15 Gamecock batters.

Thomas Farr

Farr allowed one run in six innings of work, while striking out a season-high 10 Longhorns to keep South Carolina in the game. Unfortunately, the bullpen let him down, but he’s now improved his season ERA to 1.54.

Trey Faltine

Faltine was a was a thorn in the Gamecocks’ side on both offense and defense. The slick-fielding shortstop robbed South Carolina hitters on numerous occasions from infield hits, and went 3-for-9 with the stick. He may have been the most impactful player in the Longhorns’ game one win, outside of Madden, as he notched two hits in three at bats, and also recorded back-to-back web gems in a sixth inning that saw the Gamecocks tally two base knocks and threaten to take a late game lead.

Zach Zubia

Zubia was the Longhorns’ best clutch hitter, knocking in four of the team’s 14 runs on the weekend. He only hit .200 from the plate, but his two hits were both killers for Gamecock pitching. Zubia knocked in the game winning runs in Friday’s contest with an eighth inning double, and gave the Longhorns an early 1-0 lead in game three with an RBI single.

Wes Clarke

Clarke ran into some bad luck this weekend, but he was seeing the ball really well. The slugger hit a homerun in game three, and had three others nearly leave the park. Had a gusting wind not been blowing in from right field, he could’ve easily had a four-homer weekend, and significantly changed the outcome of the series. Still, Clarke went 3-for-11 on the series with an RBI and two runs scored.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Gamecocks will try to put this one behind them as they prepare for another road series against stiff competition. South Carolina will travel to Nashville to face No. 2 Vanderbilt in its SEC opening weekend. They’ll also have a midweek matchup with Davidson on Tuesday.