South Carolina baseball suffered its fifth conference series loss over the weekend to No. 17 Mississippi State at home. The Gamecock offense found struggles once again against a Southeastern Conference opponent, this time striking out 44 times over the span of the three games.
The series started with a 5-3 loss Friday and a 9-0 loss Saturday. To end the weekend, the Gamecocks went to extra innings but were unable to avoid the series sweep, losing 4-3 in 11 innings.
South Carolina baseball drops opening game of weekend series
The South Carolina Gamecocks fell to the No. 17 Mississippi State Bulldogs in the opening game of the weekend series.
Junior right-handed pitcher Brandon Stone started on the mound for the Gamecocks, his sixth start of the season. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Tomas Valincius opened for Mississippi State.
In the second inning, senior second baseman Gehrig Frei hit a solo home run, giving the Bulldogs the first run of the game.
Junior third baseman Ace Reese hit a solo home run, putting Mississippi State up two runs in the top of the third. Graduate designated hitter Noah Sullivan singled, and graduate first baseman Reed Stallman hit an RBI home run, stretching the Bulldogs' lead to 4-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, junior center fielder Tyler Bak singled through the right side for the Gamecocks. Senior right fielder Luke Yuhasz followed up with a pop-up single, advancing Bak to third.
Lizama responded for South Carolina with a three-RBI home run, setting the score at 4-3. This was Lizama’s first home run as a Gamecock.
"I've been climbing towards that goal, and it just happened tonight," Lizama said. "Loved it."
Graduate left fielder Bryce Chance was hit by a pitch, prompting sophomore left-handed pitcher Logan Prisco to take the mound in the sixth for the Gamecocks. Stone finished just over five innings with five strikeouts.
In the bottom of the seventh, senior right-handed pitcher Ben Davis relieved Valincius for the Bulldogs. Valincius ended almost seven innings with 11 strikeouts.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Zach Russell replaced Prisco for South Carolina in the top of the eighth. Prisco pitched two strikeouts in nearly two innings.
Sullivan hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth, putting the score at 5-3 in favor of Mississippi.
Despite a last-minute offensive effort by South Carolina, the Bulldogs secured the opening-game win, 5-3.
Gamecocks suffer fifth conference loss after 9-0 loss Saturday
The Gamecocks dropped the second game of the series 9-0 to suffer their fifth conference series loss of the season. The offensive production was once again at a standstill, hitting only .219 with seven total hits.
"I did a poor job as a coach preparing them for today's game," interim head coach Monte Lee said. "We didn't execute. We didn't look like we were prepared to play. That falls on me."
Reigning SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week Amp Phillips made his 10th start of the season against the Bulldogs and did not find the success he had the previous weekend. Phillips had three strikeouts, two walks and gave up five runs in just four innings of work.
Sophomore right-hander Duke Stone made the start on the mound for Mississippi State and dominated Gamecock hitters with a career-high 12 strikeouts paired with three walks and no earned runs over six innings.
The game remained knotted up 0-0 after the next three South Carolina batters were sat down in order to end the inning.
Mississippi State took a 5-0 lead in the top of the fourth after Reese reached first on a bad throw by Phillips and later advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Sullivan singled and moved into second off another wild pitch by Phillips, with Reese scoring off an RBI groundout by Frei.
Another scoring chance for South Carolina came in the bottom of the fourth after fifth-year catcher Talmadge LeCroy singled and moved into scoring position courtesy of a sacrifice bunt from Lizama. Despite a walk from sophomore shortstop KJ Scobey, the Gamecocks could not muster up a run in the inning to stay down 5-0.
After a walk to freshman right fielder Jacob Parker loaded the bases with one out, senior first baseman Blake Bevis blasted a three-run home run to continue the commanding inning. The Bulldogs tacked on one more run after junior catcher Kevin Milewski doubled and later scored off an RBI single from graduate left fielder Bryce Chance.
The Gamecocks’ lack of offensive production continued in the bottom of the fifth inning despite junior third baseman Dawson Harman reaching base to lead off the inning for the second time of the day. Similarly to before, the next three batters struck out and left him stranded.
Mississippi State tacked on another run at the top of the sixth to extend its lead to 6-0. Bevis singled and advanced to second on a balk before scoring on an RBI single from sophomore shortstop Ryder Woodson.
After Milewski doubled to move both runners into scoring position, Reese was intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs. Junior right-hander Parker Marlatt entered the sixth and was able to leave the bases loaded after a flyout, holding the Bulldogs to just one run.
Singles from LeCroy and Scobey in the bottom of the sixth looked to provide South Carolina with yet another opportunity to respond to the six-run deficit. A two-out walk to senior pinch hitter Jake Randolph loaded the bases for the Gamecocks, but a flyout from Harman to center field ended the threat.
A two-run home run from Reese and an RBI single from Parker in the top of the eighth inning helped solidify the Bulldogs' 9-0 win over South Carolina to secure the series.
Gamecocks swept in conference series despite extra innings to come back
South Carolina fell to Mississippi State 4-3 Sunday afternoon, unable to avoid the series sweep. Despite efforts from a very active pitching staff and many offensive endeavors towards the end, the Gamecocks were unable to take down the Bulldogs.
Junior left-handed pitcher Alex Valentin had a strong start pitching for the Gamecocks, getting his first strikeout of the game early in the first. Valentin finished in five innings with four strikeouts and only issued one walk.
Mississippi State took the lead early in the top of the second inning with Bevis blasting a homerun to left field, putting the bulldogs up 2-0.
Junior right-handed pitcher Alex Philpott came to the mound in the top of the sixth to relieve Valentin.
After three scoreless innings, Mississippi State was able to further its lead over the Gamecocks, 3-0, after Frei scored on a fielder’s choice in the sixth.
South Carolina’s offense picked up in the bottom of the inning with a single from Craddock to get on base, followed by a ground ball from LeCroy, then a single by Randolph to score Craddock. The Gamecocks increased the score to 3-1, still trailing the Bulldogs.
Senior right-handed pitcher Ben Davis came in to relieve sophomore left-handed pitcher Charlie Foster after seven innings pitched with eight strikeouts recorded.
The bat was hot heading into the bottom of the eighth for the Gamecocks. LeCroy singled out to left field, scoring Bak. Randolph shortly followed with a ground ball to second base, allowing Craddock to score, tying up the game 3-3.
South Carolina responded to open up the bottom of the ninth with a single to left field by Harman, leading junior right-handed pitcher Maddox Webb to take over pitching for Davis.
Despite efforts from both teams to get ahead, the game headed into a 10th inning. The Gamecocks brought out sophomore right-handed pitcher Connor Chicoli for just one out until Prisco took over and pitched for 0.1 innings.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Zach Russell then came to the mound with one out to replace Prisco and finish out the game. Allowing no hits or runs, the Gamecocks headed into the bottom of the inning looking to take the lead.
The Bulldogs responded quickly at the top of the 11 inning, loading up the bases. Soon after, Milewski hit a flyball out to center field, allowing senior infielder Gatlin Sanders to score, putting Mississippi State back in front.
South Carolina was unable to gain the lead, suffering its third series sweep of the season and 13th conference loss.
“We just got to keep fighting," Lee said. “We just got to show up every day and compete as hard as we can together.”
What's next?
South Carolina continues its homestand with a midweek matchup against Presbyterian Tuesday. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be streaming on SEC Network+.