South Carolina Baseball: SEC announces two Gamecocks as award winners

The South Carolina baseball team had a big weekend. Riding two walk-off wins, the Gamecocks swept a ranked Missouri team to extend their undefeated record in the SEC to 6-0. Mark Kingston’s club continued scoring runs as they crossed the plate 22 times, but the impressive scoring output actually lowered the team’s season average. The one victory of the three that was not a walk-off was a blowout in the Gamecocks’ favor in which Carolina’s pitching was almost untouchable.

On Monday, the SEC office announced that two Gamecocks would be honored as SEC weekly award winners for their efforts over the weekend.

Starting pitcher Noah Hall was selected as the conference’s Pitcher of the Week as he was dominant again. Hall scattered five hits and a walk over seven innings of one-run ball. Just one batter passed second base against the right-handed hurler. He struck out ten Mizzou hitters and retired eleven straight to end his outing as he helped save the Carolina bullpen for game two of Saturday’s doubleheader. That proved to be very important as the series finale went twelve innings.

Ethan Petry continues his run as the best freshman in the SEC (and possibly the country). Petry homered in all three games of the Missouri series, but those long balls were not his only offensive contributions over the weekend. In the come-from-behind victory in game 1, Petry extended the game in the 9th with a heads-up hustle play as he beat out the throw to first base after a dropped third strike. He also had the game-winning, walk-off single in the 12th inning of game 3 after tying the game with a 2-run blast in the 8th.

The Gamecocks and their award winners will be on the road this week as they take on The Citadel Bulldogs in Charleston on Tuesday and the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.