The Gamecocks swept the Milwaukee Panthers 3-0 to earn its second straight series sweep and improve to 8-0 on the season.
The Gamecocks opened the series on Friday afternoon with a 5-3 win. South Carolina won their second game against the Panthers 6-3 on Saturday and the final game 14-4 to complete the sweep over Milwaukee.
Here's a recap of the games from this series:
Gamecocks withstand Milwaukee in series opener through Woita’s sixth inning grand slam
The South Carolina men’s baseball team defeated Milwaukee 5-2 in the first match of their three game set, keeping its undefeated streak at home alive. This weekend’s series was the Gamecocks’ first meeting against the Panthers in school history.
After a scoreless first inning between the two teams, sophomore infielder Nolan Nawrocki batted in the first run of the game with a flyout to right field in the bottom of the second, scoring in junior infielder Jase Woita.
Senior pitcher Dylan Eskew gave up two walks and a hit by pitch to allow the Panthers to take a 2-1 lead at the top of the 3rd inning.
“Dylan wasn’t himself tonight, he had command issues and a little strain in his back that was affecting his delivery, so we got him out of there,” head coach Paul Mainieri said.
Sophomore pitcher Tyler Pitzer pitched back-to-back strikeouts to close out the fifth inning to hold the Panthers scoreless in consecutive innings. However, the Gamecocks struggled with consistency on the mound, throwing 100 pitches through the first five innings, throwing 55 strikes to 48 balls.
“You go in with the mentality of fill up the strike zone, doing the best of your capabilities and knowing that your defense is behind you, and in the end it works out,” Pitzer said.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Gamecocks took a 5-2 lead through a grand slam from Woita who homered to left field, allowing senior catcher Talmadge LeCroy, senior outfielder Kennedy Jones and junior outfielder Nathan Hall to cross home plate.
LeCroy also contributed with a timely tag to keep the deficit at 2-1 in the top of the sixth, beating the sliding Milwaukee runner.
“We had a great inning there and one swing of the bat was the difference in the game,” Mainieri said. “It was nice to see somebody else tonight. Jace Woita stepped up and got a big hit.”
A double play in the top of the seventh had shortstop Henry Kaczmar throw it to second baseman Nawrocki who switched it to junior infielder Ethan Petry at first base which struck out the Panthers and ended the inning.
Freshman pitcher Zach Russell entered to close in the ninth inning, faced eight batters and maintained an ERA of 0.00 after two innings pitched. Junior Brendan Sweeney finished the game with a strikeout and made it five games that South Carolina has thrown 10 or more strikeouts this season.
Becker, Carrion shine in South Carolina's game two victory
South Carolina defeated the Panthers 6-3 in game two behind another strong performance from senior pitcher Matthew Becker, who made his second start of the season on Saturday. Becker gave up two runs and three hits in 6.1 innings. He also recorded eight strikeouts and didn't allow a walk.
"I feel like I did a better job of mixing everything," Becker said. "Landing the curveball, making them respect it, and really just made one mistake today."
The Gamecocks took advantage of three free passes in the second inning by Milwaukee senior pitcher Logan Schulfer. Freshman infielder K.J. Scobey laced a two-run single, then advanced to second on the throw home. Senior infielder Jordan Carrion then hit an RBI single, followed by a fly out from junior outfielder Nathan Hall that scored Scobey. The Gamecocks led 4-0 after two innings.
"Trying to hit a ground ball to second base and get the runner in," Carrion said. "I hit it hard and it felt good to drive them in."
The Panthers added a run in the fourth inning when senior infielder Justin Hausser hit a double, followed by an RBI single from senior infielder Tyler Bickers. After Becker worked out of the jam, South Carolina took a 5-1 lead in the fifth when junior outfielder and infielder Ethan Petry launched a solo home run, his second of the season. The home run was No. 46 in Petry's Gamecock career, which is fourth-most in school history.
Milwaukee made it a three-run game in the sixth when shortstop Gave Roessler hit a solo home run. The Gamecocks scored again in the seventh when Petry hit an RBI-groundout, plating Carrion, who singled earlier in the inning. Carrion went 2-3 with an RBI and a stolen base in his first start of the season. Carrion, a Florida State and Florida transfer, had no at-bats on the season coming into the game.
"I just wanted to give him an opportunity," Mainieri said. "His role is to be the super-sub, infield defensive guy at any position. But when you don't play for awhile, like a full game, it's easy to not be able to handle that situation."
Sophomore pitcher Brandon Stone followed Becker and gave up one run on three hits in 2.2 innings. The run came off the bat of junior outfielder Charlie Marion, who hit a solo home run in the ninth . Stone responded with two-straight outs to clinch the 6-3 win for the Gamecocks and earn him his first career save.
"When the game's on the line, you want to go with the guys that you have the most confidence in because they've proven themselves," Mainieri said. "Brandon Stone pitched so well earlier this week against Winthrop that we thought he was the right guy to have in the game."
Gamecocks pick up second series sweep of 2025
On Sunday, the Gamecocks defeated Milwaukee 14-4 to get its second straight series sweep and improve its record to 8-0 following a 14 hit performance.
"One way to show that you believe in the players is to let them swing the bat and entrust that he knows what he's doing up there, and he's gonna have a good aggressive, confident attitude," Mainieri said. "That's just the way I was raised in the game, and it's what I believe in."
South Carolina started the game with senior outfielder Blake Jackson and Petry hitting back to back RBI doubles to put the Gamecocks up 2-0, and then again when Nawrocki hit a sacrifice RBI to send Petry home.
The Panthers quickly responded in the second inning, as senior catcher Thomas Otto launched a three-run home run to tie the game, the first home run given up by sophomore pitcher Jake McCoy this season.
After two more one-run innings, which included Petry grounding out to pick up another RBI and Nawrocki hitting his first home run of the season in the third, the Gamecocks would score three more runs in the fourth inning.
Junior infielder Will Tippett and Petry both scored following wild pitches by Milwaukee and sophomore catcher Ryan Bakes would ground out to third allowing Hall to score.
Following the inning, McCoy would be replaced by redshirt sophomore pitcher Ashton Crowther. McCoy would finish the day with eight strikeouts and two hits.
"I thought Jake McCoy threw well." Mainieri said. "It's the next lesson that he has to learn is to have a killer instinct to finish it off an inning so that he keeps his pitch count down and allows him to pitch longer."
The scoring for South Carolina would pick up again in the sixth inning as Petry would hit another RBI double and freshman infielder Beau Hollins would get his first RBI as a Gamecock.
The highlight of the inning was Bakes hitting his first home run of his career, something he spoke about following the win.
"The home run swing, it was it was good." Bakes said. "The swings previously, I knew I was out front a little bit. I talked to (associate head coach) Monte (Lee). He told me to stay back on it, so I did that."
The game would end in the eighth inning following a Tippett RBI and an error committed by the Panthers to send Hollins home and end the game via a run rule.
What's next?
The Gamecocks will be back at Founders Park on Feb. 25 against Gardner-Webb at 6:30 p.m. The game will stream live on SEC Network+.