The end of the spring semester typically marks the beginning of vacation, but for some student athletes, competition continues throughout the summer. For those who weren't around campus for the summer, here's a recap of summer matches and championships.
Men’s Tennis
Gamecock men's tennis finished the season on May 4 with an overall record of 18-10 (5-7 SEC), but this did not mark the end of play for junior Paul Jubb who made program history for South Carolina.
From May 20 to May 25, Jubb participated in the NCAA Singles Championship in Orlando, Florida.
In the first match, Jubb won a close set and dominated the second set to advance to the second round of the championship. He continued to rack up wins, defeating No. 45 Dan Little of Utah in a 6-4, 7-6 (7) victory to move into the round of 16.
In Jubb’s next match, he became the second-ever Gamecock to reach the NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championship quarterfinals after defeating No. 39 Benjamin Sigouin 6-1, 6-4.
Jubb went on to become the first South Carolina men’s tennis player to advance to the NCAA Singles Championship final match, defeating No. 7 Aleksander Kovacevic of Illinois 4-6, 6-4 and 6-2.
The postseason came to an end when Jubb gave South Carolina its first national championship in men’s tennis history. Jubb faced and defeated Nuno Borges, the No. 1 ranked player in the nation, with a final score of 6-3, 7-6 (2).
After Jubb became the NCAA singles champion, he had the opportunity to play at Wimbledon, one of the most prestigious professional tennis tournaments in the world. He lost in the first match, but is the only Gamecock who has ever played in the tournament.
Women’s Tennis
South Carolina's women’s tennis team ended its season on May 17 with a record of 23-4 (12-1 SEC) and just like the men's team, finished with its first SEC tournament win in program history after defeating No. 1 Georgia 4-3 on April 21.
On May 20, the Gamecocks played in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, where South Carolina junior Mia Horvit won the Gamecocks' first round of the championship 4-0 and advanced the Gamecocks to the second round of the competition.
This was the third-straight year the team made it to the NCAA championship sweet 16 after senior Paige Cline gave the Gamecocks a three-set victory with a win over Virginia, 4-1.
South Carolina then defeated Southern California 4-0 for a play in the quarterfinals.
However, the team could not keep the winning streak alive and was defeated by Duke, 4-1.
Baseball
South Carolina's baseball team's season officially began on Feb. 21 and resulted in an overall record of 28-28 (8-22 SEC) with the first summer match on May 3 against Vanderbilt.
South Carolina lost the Vanderbilt series opener 22-11 and again in a double header to close out the series.
In the Gamecocks' next match on May 8, Furman won 7-4.
After starting the month of May 0-4, South Carolina defeated Kentucky 5-4, opening the series with a win. The Gamecocks defeated Kentucky again the next day by a score of 11-3, clinching their only series win of the year. However, in the final game of the series, Kentucky left Columbia with a 6-2 win, closing out the home conference schedule for the Gamecocks.
The final home game was on May 14 against USC Upstate, where freshman pitch runner Jacob English gave the Gamecocks a 1-0 win.
On May 16, the Gamecocks went on the road to Starkville, Mississippi for their next series. They lost both the first and second games to No. 5 Mississippi State with scores of 24-7 and 11-2, respectively. However, the Gamecocks qualified for the SEC Tournament in the last game against the Bulldogs, defeating them 10-8.
The baseball season came to a close in the first game of the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama after losing to LSU, 8-6.
Softball
South Carolina’s softball team had an overall season of 38-19 (9-14 SEC), during which they broke school a school record for home runs in a match against Missouri by hitting multiple home runs for the 20th time this season.
However, the Gamecocks went on to lose the series opener against the Tigers 4-3 and fell 7-6 in the second game of the series. In the final game, South Carolina defeated Missouri 5-2 and headed to the SEC Tournament as the No. 11 seed. However, they dropped the first game against Florida, 6-5.
After the tournament, the Gamecocks played in the Tallahassee Regional on May 17, but lost 3-2 against South Florida in the opening contest. South Carolina proceeded to play loser’s bracket, defeating Bethune-Cookman 10-0 to advance to the regional finals. In their last game, the Gamecocks lost to Florida State 7-6 to close out the season.
Men’s Golf
No. 17 South Carolina men’s golf team was tied for sixth after round one of the NCAA Regionals, along with UCLA, Florida and Purdue heading into round two of the tournament.
In round two, Scott Stevens, tied for fifth, led the Gamecocks to seventh place on the team leaderboard.
Stevens secured the fifth spot in the NCAA regional playoffs after defeating Colorado State in the tournament.
Women’s Golf
South Carolina freshman golfer Emily Price was crucial to the team in her first NCAA regional appearance. She put up a 72 round by using 16 pars, a birdie and a boogey and tied for 21st, helping secure 12th place for the team in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Cle Elum Regional.
No. 9 ranked South Carolina finished the second round of the regional in a tie for 10th place, but the team had confidence going into the next round.
However, the women’s golf team saw their season end when they placed 10th at the Cle Elum Regional.
Track and Field
The track and field team’s postseason started in May with the 2019 SEC Outdoor Championships kickoff. Sophomore Heather Stone was a key athelte, making South Carolina’s first SEC scoring effort in the women’s 1,000-meter since 2000.
As the SEC championships continued, the Gamecocks had two student-athletes on the podium: Eric Favors, who placed third in the men’s shot put, and Yann Randrianasolo, who placed third in the men’s long jump.
At the last meet of the 2019 SEC Outdoor Championships, South Carolina’s Quincy Hall became the champion of the men’s 400-meter. Hall became the first Gamecock in history to win the SEC men’s 400-meter title both indoors and outdoors in the same season.
South Carolina senior Yann Randrianasolo advanced to nationals to compete in the men’s long jump along with Aliyah Abrams, Quincy Hall, Wadeline Jonathas, Otis Jones, Eric Favors and Isaiah Moore.
The Gamecocks traveled to Austin, Texas for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The first three Gamecocks to compete were Yann Randrianasolo, Otis Jones and Eric Favors. Randrianasolo placed third in the men’s long jump. Jones and Favors did not make it to the podium, with finishes in 15th and 18th, respectively.
South Carolina kept moving up in the championship, as Abrams and Jonathas each won individual 400-meter semifinal races.
As the tournament continued, Hall won the 400-meter hurdles title at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship. This was South Carolina’s first NCAA men’s event title since 2010.
Ending South Carolina's postseason, Jonathas closed the NCAA Outdoor Championships by winning the 400-meter and led the women's team to the best NCAA outdoor finish since 2006.