The South Carolina baseball team (17-9, 1-5 SEC) fell to North Carolina 13-8 on Tuesday night at Truist Field in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The University of North Carolina (19-6, 4-5 ACC) totaled 12 hits, including four home runs, to overcome South Carolina's late-inning rally and win the annual rivalry matchup.
"Eleven walks, two hit batters, you're just not going to beat teams when you do that," head coach Paul Mainieri said. "It's hard enough when you give up hits and home runs, but when you give 13 free passes, it's just too much to overcome."
The Gamecocks quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when junior outfielders Nathan Hall and Ethan Petry hit back-to-back solo home runs.
North Carolina scored its first run of the game in the second after graduate outfielder Tyson Bass hit a solo home run. South Carolina got more baserunners in the bottom of the second when senior infielder Jordan Carrion was hit by a pitch and later advanced to third after junior infielder Henry Kaczmar singled. Hall scored Carrion on a sacrifice fly, giving the Gamecocks a 3-1 lead.
The Tar Heels took their first lead of the game behind three runs in the third. Sophomore catcher Luke Stevenson hit a solo home run, and then Bass then delivered a two-RBI single, his second hit of the game. Freshman outfielder Sawyer Black launched a solo home run in the fourth to give North Carolina a 5-3 lead.
"There are some things that are fixable," Mainieri said. "It's not a matter of talent — being able to come in and come out of the bullpen and throw strikes right away."
South Carolina's offense was quieted in the middle innings. Sophomore pitcher Olin Johnson retired the Gamecocks in order in the third and fifth. Johnson gave up no hits and posted two strikeouts in three innings of relief.
The Gamecocks' pitching staff struggled with free passes in the sixth. Freshman pitcher Ryder Garino walked and hit consecutive batters then was relieved by senior pitcher Matthew Becker. Becker then walked back-to-back batters, scoring a run. Sophomore infielder Gavin Gallaher later hit a two-RBI double, extending the Tar Heels' lead to five.
South Carolina made it a one-run game in the sixth with a four-run inning. Senior catcher Talmadge LeCroy worked a leadoff walk, then freshman infielder Beau Hollins singled. Junior infielder Cayden Gaskin walked, followed by a two-RBI double from Kaczmar. Hall scored the final run of the inning on an RBI-groundout, his third RBI of the game.
The Gamecocks tied the game in the seventh when Hollins hit an RBI-double. North Carolina answered with five runs in the eighth, including a two-run home run from Stevenson that gave the Tar Heels the lead. A pair of RBI-singles by the Tar Heels and a wild pitch by redshirt junior pitcher Roman Kimball made it a 13-8 game. South Carolina went down in order in the ninth, ending the game.
"It was disappointing," Mainieri said. "We had a great comeback there and tied the game. Had the potential go-ahead run at second base. One more hit, we take the lead."
Free passes hurt Gamecocks' pitching
South Carolina pitchers issued 11 walks and hit two batters against North Carolina. Eight of the 12 Gamecock pitchers who appeared on Tuesday night walked at least one batter. Junior pitcher Brendan Sweeney, who started for the Gamecocks, gave up no hits and struck out one in his only inning.
"The plan was to use all these different guys because we were shorthanded with (senior pitcher Dylan) Eskew being hurt," Mainieri said. "We were hoping we could get a bunch of shutout innings for one inning from a bunch of different guys. Unfortunately, we only got three shutout innings out of nine."
Offense not enough
The Gamecocks finished with nine hits on Tuesday night, including two home runs and three doubles. Petry and Hollins both went 2-5 with an RBI, while Kaczmar went 2-2 with two walks. Mainieri said his team hit well enough to win but couldn't overcome the pitching mistakes.
"There's some positives," Mainieri said. "Normally, you score eight runs in a game, you feel pretty good about your chances, but not tonight. We just couldn't stop them, partially because of how good they were and partially because we handed them 13 free passes."
'You've just got to keep looking forward'
Tuesday's loss to the Tar Heels is the fourth straight defeat for the Gamecocks dating back to last weekend's series loss to No. 3 Arkansas. Mainieri said his team must look ahead to the next game despite the losses.
"You've just got to keep looking forward and battling each and every day," Mainieri said. "Every game is an entity into its own. We tell them that from the first day that we ever met them. Nobody ever said it was going to be easy."
What's next?
The Gamecocks (17-9, 1-5 SEC) return home this weekend for a three-game series against No. 1 Tennessee (23-2, 5-1 SEC). First pitch on Friday is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+.