South Carolina Baseball: Gamecocks sweep through regional as bats stay hot
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina baseball was chosen as a regional host in a somewhat controversial fashion, but the Gamecocks proved their worthiness of the distinction over the past few days. In the opening game of the Columbia regional, Carolina knocked off the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils 19-1 in a game that could have had an even wider margin. Then, a 6-3 victory over NC State moved USC into the regional final.
The Campbell Fightin’ Camels from Buies Creek, North Carolina won their way through the loser’s bracket of the regional to meet up with the Gamecocks in the final needing to take two from South Carolina baseball to advance. Mark Kingston’s Gamecocks (again the visiting team due to regional rules) had no intention of allowing the Camels any such opportunity.
An offensively-charged game saw each team score two runs over the first two innings, but the two Carolinas-based squads combined for ten runs in the third. The Gamecocks batted around in the inning and plated seven runs behind six-straight hits (including three-straight doubles from Cole Messina, Talmadge LeCroy, and Gavin Casas) and a Will McGillis home run. Once again the visiting team, Carolina gave up three to the Camels in the bottom half to bring the score to 9-5.
The game did not slow down in the 4th as the Gamecocks loaded the bases and drew a run-scoring walk. Nick Proctor relieved starter Matthew Becker in the 4th inning and ended the Campbell threat to keep the score at 10-5. Senior Braylen Wimmer smacked his second home run of the regional to extend the lead to six runs in the 5th, and the USC offense added three more.
Proctor surrendered a run in the 5th on some shaky defense and gave up another one on a sacrifice fly in the 6th. Will Sanders was electric in the 7th as he struck out the side.
The score became 16-7 in the top of the 8th after the Gamecocks strung together a few more hits. Sanders finished things out without allowing a run to pick up the rare save that is not earned threw pitching in a close game as he finished the win with a scoreless three-inning outing. Big #32 notched six strikeouts and looks like he might be returning to form.
Logan Jordan hit almost 900 feet worth of home runs for Campbell, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with a Gamecock offense that scored 16 runs and scored 41 times in just three games to sweep the regional.
The South Carolina baseball team walked 30 times (and were hit by pitches 7 times) during the regional.
The Gamecocks do not yet know who they will face in the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament. In fact, Carolina does not even know where they will play. The Florida Gators will play Texas Tech on Monday, and if the Gators win, South Carolina baseball will travel to Gainesville for the supers. However, if the Red Raiders pull off the upset, Founders Park will host a surprise super regional as the Gamecocks will be the highest seed remaining on this side of the bracket.
The super regional round is set to begin on Friday, June 9th. The Gamecocks will be set up with full rest for their pitching staff.
A full look at the NCAA Tournament bracket can be found here.