South Carolina Baseball: Gamecocks wrangle Gators in big series sweep
By Kevin Miller
Last weekend, the South Carolina baseball team lost its first series of the year in Nashville against the SEC East-leading Vanderbilt Commodores. The two losses on the weekend moved the Gamecocks off the line from their nation-best 29-4 record but did not lower Mark Kingston’s squad in the rankings. Maintaining their spot at #6, the South Carolina baseball team welcomed in the Charleston Southern Buccaneers in the mid-week and the #3-ranked Florida Gators for a weekend matchup.
The CSU game was tighter than it should have been as the game was tied 4-4 until the bottom of the 6th inning. The Gamecock offense came alive with multiple runs in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings, and the bullpen held the Bucs scoreless after the second inning to preserve a 10-4 victory. Gavin Casas and Dylan Brewer added home runs, but third baseman Talmadge LeCroy injured his hamstring and had to be removed from the game.
The Florida series was a Thursday-Saturday affair, and for the third weekend in a row, the Gamecocks were part of the biggest series in the SEC. Injuries were a major story as Noah Hall missed his start for the third weekend in a row, Will McGillis remained out with his broken arm, and Talmadge LeCroy sat with his hamstring injury. Gavin Casas also left Thursday night’s game with a lung injury after a collision on the bases.
Thursday night’s game 1 saw Will Sanders turn in his best pitching performance of SEC play as he outdueled All-SEC candidate Brandon Sproat, only giving up two earned runs on three hits while fanning ten Gators. His offense backed him up with five runs in both the bottom of the 6th and the bottom of the 7th. What was a tie game after the top of the 6th became a blowout win for the Gamecocks as Ethan Petry broke his own South Carolina freshman home run record with his 19th long ball and Cole Messina hit a “walk-off” double that put the 10-run rule into effect at 13-3.
The offensive outburst continued through the beginning of game 2 as Carolina plated 5 runs in the first two frames. National home run leader Jac Caglionone hit a long home run in the 1st, and Ethan Petry put himself in second place nationally with his 3-run answer in the 2nd inning. The scoring stopped after just two innings for the home team, but starter Jack Mahoney, Eli Jones, and Chris Veach combined to hold the potent Gator offense to just 2 runs. The 5-2 victory gave the Gamecocks the series win, but South Carolina wasn’t quite done yet.
Game 3 was not a dominant display, but the outcome was also never in doubt. Led by five RBI from Petry and Braylen Wimmer (including a 2-run shot in the 2nd to open the scoring), the Gamecocks never trailed on Saturday, and Petry broke Justin Smoak’s freshman RBI record. Matthew Becker pitched a very solid 5 innings of 2-run ball with 6 strikeouts and just one walk. 7-5 was the final score after James Hicks and Chris Veach closed it out, and Carolina finished the sweep without ever trailing for more than a half inning at a time.
The now 34-6 Gamecocks are tied with Vanderbilt at the top of the SEC East and are in sole possession of the conference’s best overall record.
The Gamecocks get a mid-week break this week before welcoming Auburn to Columbia for a Friday, Saturday, Sunday set. Friday’s first pitch is set for 7:00 and will be shown on the SECNewtork+, Saturday’s game will begin at 4:00 on the SECNetwork+, and the Sunday finale will be broadcast on the SECNetwork starting at noon.