South Carolina baseball (22-23, 7-14 SEC) won its second Southeastern Conference series of the season, beating the Kentucky Wildcats (27-15, 9-12 SEC) twice at Founders Park over the weekend. The Gamecock offense scored 24 runs against Kentucky, their most runs in an SEC series this year.
The series started with a 10-9 win Friday and a 9-4 win Saturday. The weekend ended with a 9-5 loss Sunday after a strong start to the series.
South Carolina picks up Friday night win, 10-9
The Gamecocks took the first game of the series 10-9 at Founders Park in Columbia Friday night against Kentucky 26-13 (8-10 SEC).
The Wildcats picked up an early run from sophomore shortstop Tyler Bell driving a double off the right field fence to score junior outfielder Jayce Tharnish.
South Carolina attacked Kentucky's ace junior right-handed pitcher Jaxon Jelkin, firing off three straight singles from freshmen designated hitter Will Cradock, junior outfielder Tyler Bak and fifth-year catcher Talmadge LeCroy to begin the game.
Bringing red-hot Ethan Lizama to the plate, the senior outfielder retook the lead for the Gamecocks, hitting a grand slam with no outs in the bottom of the first.
Later on in the inning, a passed ball and an error on a pickoff attempt helped score junior third baseman Dawson Harman to give the Gamecocks a 5-1 lead after one inning.
Kentucky got to junior starting pitcher Amp Phillips in the second inning, loading the bases by drawing three walks without any outs.
Tharnish closed the Wildcat deficit to 5-3 after his double drove in two runs.
Followed by a single from senior infielder Luke Lawrence and a walk, interim head coach Monte Lee went to the bullpen, bringing in right-handed sophomore Cooper Parks. Kentucky was soon able to tie the game in the top of the second, 5-5, on a fielder's choice from senior outfielder Will Marcy.
The Gamecocks kept the runs coming in the top of the third inning when sophomore shortstop KJ Scobey belted a 386-foot home run into the Kentucky bullpen to give South Carolina a 7-5 lead.
Continuing the momentum, the South Carolina offense struck again with a Harman home run to extend its lead to 8-5 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Sophomore pitcher Logan Prisco did not make it out of the inning, loading the bases before an impressive catch from Bak at the wall allowed sophomore utility player Tagger Tyson to score on a sacrifice fly.
After surrendering the run, Lee went back to his bullpen and brought out right-handed sophomore Zach Russell. Russell got out of the inning, preserving a two-run Gamecock advantage, 8-6, in the sixth.
Topping his highlight catch from the sixth, Bak saved another run in the seventh, robbing junior third baseman Ethan Hindle of a homer by scaling the wall in right-center field.
In the bottom of the seventh, Harman struck again by launching his second home run into the Kentucky bullpen in left field.
Junior Alex Philpott relieved Russell in the eighth, allowing a triple to Tharnish for his third hit of the game and putting a runner in scoring position with one out. Tharnish was driven in with two outs after a ball got over the head of Scobey into left field from Tyler Bell.
Bak picked up his second hit of the game with a double in the bottom of the eighth. LeCroy followed it with a double of his own to give South Carolina a three-run cushion, 10-7.
"Being able to swing the bat late in the ball game and add some insurance runs, which turned out to be huge for us tonight," Lee said. "It was critical for us. I was really proud at how we competed throughout the course of the game."
Kentucky continued to rally, as senior left fielder Scott Campbell Jr. ripped an RBI double. South Carolina brought in junior righty Parker Marlatt and me managed to end the game.
"(Lee) wants me on the mound, he wants me to win us this game, that's what I'm here to do, and that's what I did," Marlatt said.
Strong offensive performance secures Gamecocks series win
South Carolina solidified the series victory against Kentucky with a 9-4 win Saturday afternoon.
Paired with the strong day at the plate, the pitching staff, led by junior right-hander Brandon Stone, helped hold the Wildcats to just seven hits. Stone moved to 5-2 on the year after 5.2 innings of work, while the bullpen shutout Kentucky for the remaining 4.1 innings.
"Just all in all pitched it well, played great defensively, swung it good, complete game, won the series, and hopefully we can continue with all this great momentum that we have going into tomorrow," Lee said.
South Carolina took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first after loading the bases following a walk from Bak, single from LeCroy and a failed throw on a fielder’s choice reached Lizama. Harman knocked in two runs after a throwing error by the Kentucky second baseman scored Bak and LeCroy.
The Gamecocks extended their lead to 3-0 in the third inning after Bak singled and later advanced to third on a stolen base and a groundout before finally scoring off a wild pitch.
The offensive production continued in the fourth inning after junior second baseman Patrick Evans reached on a wild pitch and senior designated hitter Jake Randolph walked. With runners at the corners, a sacrifice bunt from senior outfielder Luke Yuhasz scored Evans from third. Randolph later scored courtesy of an RBI double from Bak to take a 5-0 lead.
Kentucky responded to the five-run deficit with two runs in the top of the fifth inning after the first two batters reached off a single and a fielder’s choice before both moved into scoring position off a sacrifice bunt by Tyson. Both Kentucky runners scored off an RBI groundout and an RBI single.
A walk from Harman in the top of the fifth would tack on to South Carolina’s lead after he advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a flyout. An RBI single from Evans scored Harman, giving the Gamecocks a 6-2 lead after five innings.
Home runs from freshman designated hitter Braxton Van Cleave and Campbell Jr. cut down South Carolina’s lead to 6-4 in the top of the sixth inning.
The Gamecocks added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning after a leadoff single from Yuhasz. A two-out RBI double from LeCroy scored Yuhasz all the way from first base to give South Carolina the 7-4 advantage.
In the eighth inning, freshman first baseman Will Craddock put runners in scoring position with one out. A groundout from Bak scored Yuhasz and an RBI single from LeCroy scored Craddock to solidify the Gamecocks' 9-4 win over Kentucky.
Late inning errors cost Gamecocks series sweep Sunday
South Carolina fell 9-5 in a high energy finale to the weekend series against the Wildcats.
"It was a good weekend, you know, would have been a great weekend if we could have held on and won that game," Lee said. "It's certainly disappointing."
Junior pitcher Alex Valentin made his fifth conference start of the season and only made it two innings after giving up four earned runs off three hits, walking one and striking out three.
A leadoff home run from Tharnish gave Kentucky an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. After a hit-by-pitch to Bell, who later advanced to third off a sacrifice bunt and groundout, Valentin had his first strikeout of the day to leave Bell stranded at third and keep the damage to one run.
The Wildcats extended their lead at the top of the third inning after a leadoff hit-by-pitch to Tyson, and a double from Tharnish quickly put runners in scoring position with no outs against Valentin. Kentucky extended its lead 3-0 after a two-RBI single from Bell.
Marlatt entered the game after a walk ended Valentin’s day in the top of the third. A one-out RBI-single from Campbell Jr. provided Kentucky with the 4-0 lead in the third inning.
South Carolina cut the deficit down 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning after Lizama blasted a two-run home run to right field.
The Gamecocks loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning after a hit-by-pitch to sophomore designated hitter Caleb Hoover, a single from senior outfielder Aaron Jamison and a four-pitch walk to Craddock. South Carolina tied the game 4-4 after a hit from LeCroy was dropped by Campbell Jr. in left field.
Kentucky called on senior left-hander and former South Carolina pitcher Jackson Soucie, who walked Lizama to once again load the bases. A bases loaded walk to Harman provided the Gamecocks with a 5-4 lead, with Scobey later striking out to leave the bases loaded.
Despite batters reaching in both the sixth and seventh innings, South Carolina could not garner another insurance run to extend its 5-4 lead.
The Wildcats tied the game up 5-5 in the top of the eighth after Hindle was hit-by-pitch to lead off the inning, later advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt and scoring off a single from Van Cleave.
Kentucky then took a 7-5 lead in the eighth inning after a throw from LeCroy to catch Van Cleave stealing second went into center field, with Van Cleave advancing to third and scoring on a throwing error by Jamison in center field. Freshman third baseman Caeden Cloud then blasted a solo home run to add to the damage.
Scobey walked to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning and looked to provide the Gamecocks with an opportunity to regain the lead. Randolph was hit by a pitch with one out to keep the rally alive, but back-to-back strikeouts once again ended the threat.
The Wildcats added two more runs in the top of the ninth to solidify their 9-5 win over South Carolina in the third game of the series.
What's next?
South Carolina concludes its nine-game homestand against The Citadel Tuesday at Founder's Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be streaming on SEC Network+.