South Carolina Baseball: Florida silences Gamecocks’ bats to end USC’s season in super regional
By Kevin Miller
A tough game 1 loss in the opener of the Gainesville super regional put South Carolina baseball one loss away from the end of their season. Saturday was a new day, but it was also a win-or-go-home situation for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina baseball’s last stand was scheduled to begin at 3:00, but like Friday night, a 2 1/2-hour rain delay pushed first pitch back. Despite the series being played in Gainesville, Florida was the visiting team per the postseason rules in college baseball.
When the game finally started, the 1st inning was uneventful. Jack Mahoney was sharp with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning, and the Gamecock offense posed minimal threat to Gator starter Hurston Waldrep as their only baserunner (Will McGillis) was thrown out attempting to steal 2nd base.
In the 2nd, the Gators were the benefactor of some interesting umpiring. The same umpire responsible for the controversial no-call at first base on Friday (Greg Street) was behind the plate on Saturday and squeezed Mahoney pretty significantly in the bottom of the inning:
Mahoney had two different pitches in the strike zone called balls, and Gator catcher BT Riopelle walked. With two outs, Florida plated two runs that were gift-wrapped by Greg Street.
Florida added another run in the 5th, but the Carolina offense was held hitless through the same frame. Ethan Petry added a single in the 6th, but Mark Kingston’s club could do nothing with the baserunner.
Carolina reliever Chris Veach was excellent in relief of Mahoney as he delivered 2 and 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. However, a Veach walk in the 8th eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly surrendered by Eli Jones. With the score 4-0, the fans at Condron Family Ball Park could almost taste the dry air of Omaha, Nebraska.
Waldrep stayed in the game for the 8th inning, and the sensational right-handed pitcher sat down the side in order once again. His 109th pitch secured his 13th strikeout as Waldrep K-ed 9 of the 13 South Carolina batters he faced since walking Gavin Casas in the 5th.
#12 returned to the mound in the ninth but left after giving up an infield single to Braylen Wimmer. Florida’s superstar closer Brandon Neely came on to close things out with his team just three outs away from the College World Series. Ethan Petry lined out on a hard-hit ball to left, Cole Messina struck out looking, and Talmadge LeCroy weakly popped out to the second baseman to end it.
In the first two innings of the super regional, South Carolina baseball strung together multiple hits, and unsurprisingly, the Gamecocks scored three of their four runs on the weekend in those two innings. Carolina’s bats were not able to pick up multiple hits in an inning over the remaining 16 frames of the series. The only other run scored came on a Will McGillis solo home run.
That level of offensive play won’t win many games against good competition. The pitching was good enough (only 9 runs allowed, with two of them off of an umpiring error), but the bats simply didn’t do enough, a trend that plagued the Gamecocks for most of the final two months of the season other than in the Columbia regional.
Overall, the 2023 version of Gamecock baseball had a good season. Carolina returned to the super regional stage of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, and they were chosen as a top-16 seed for the first time since 2016. However, the way things played out with a top-3 squad for most of the year, the season still feels like somewhat of a disappointment.
With significant contributors moving on from the program this offseason, the South Carolina baseball team could look vastly different in 2024. The Gamecock faithful hope that “different” comes with improvements that build off the successes of 2023. Carolina will enter this offseason looking to make it to the College World Series in 2024 for the first time in over a decade.