The South Carolina baseball team swept the Morehead State Eagles to earn its third sweep of the season and improve to a 14-3 record.
The Gamecocks opened the series on Friday with an 11-7 win. South Carolina won its second game 16-11 on Saturday and its final game 1-0 on Sunday to complete the sweep.
Here's a recap of the games from this series:
Gamecocks outpace Morehead State in offensive battle
South Carolina picked up the series opener victory on Friday night 11-7 on the back of a clutch offensive performance and some stellar pitching from sophomore pitcher Brandon Stone in relief.
Senior pitcher Matthew Becker got the ball for the Gamecocks, while Morehead State started senior pitcher Trevor Callahan. The two pitched flawless first innings, only throwing 12 pitches combined.
The Eagles spotted a quick four runs on the Gamecocks in the second inning. Junior outfielder JJ Dutton began the inning with a leadoff triple to left-center field, followed by an RBI single from redshirt sophomore outfielder Davis Germann to open the scoring. After walking in a run later in the inning, Becker gave up a single to redshirt sophomore infielder Hayden Robbins to extend the lead to 4-0.
Becker's day ended after picking up another strikeout. He allowed four runs on five hits while striking out two in just 1.2 innings pitched. Stone picked up a strikeout to end the frame.
Senior outfielder Kennedy Jones got the bottom of the second going for South Carolina, ripping a double down the right-field line. Freshman infielder KJ Scobey lined a single up the middle to put runners on the corners. Jones scored on a wild pitch from Callahan with sophomore catcher Ryan Bakes up, who blooped a double down the left field line to score Scobey as the Gamecocks cut the Eagles' lead in half.
"Momentum is obviously one of the greatest things in baseball," Jones said. "Just being able to get some momentum going was big for the team, so I was glad I was able to do that."
Stone allowed three consecutive singles to begin the fourth inning, as Morehead State brought home another run off the bat of freshman infielder Beau Hollins to extend the lead to 5-2
The Gamecocks got to Callahan in a big way in the fifth, doing the damage all with two outs. Jones drove a double down the left field line to score junior infielder Henry Kaczmar and junior outfielder Nathan Hall, bringing the score to 5-4. Scobey tied the game up in the next at-bat, bringing home Jones with an RBI single to right field, ending Callahan's day.
The score remained 5-5 through the sixth inning. Stone picked up his seventh and eighth strikeouts of the night to begin the seventh inning.
Hall began the seventh inning with a double to the left field wall. Two batters later, junior fielder Ethan Petry came through for South Carolina, driving in Hall from third base with a single to give the Gamecocks the 6-5 lead.
The Eagles responded in the eighth, quickly loading the bases against Stone without recording a base hit. With one out, junior infielder Griffin Olson drove a double to centerfield to bring in two runs and give Morehead State the 7-6 lead. Stone's day ended after 86 pitches out of the bullpen through 5.2 innings. Stone allowed three runs while striking out nine.
"Wouldn't have won tonight if it wasn't for the effort by Brandon Stone, who was just phenomenal tonight," head coach Paul Mainieri said. "I thought that Brandon coming in and doing what he did really gave us a chance."
Sophomore pitcher Tyler Pitzer entered in relief for Stone, inheriting runners on second and third with just one out. Graduate catcher Hunter Thomas skied a fly ball caught by Petry as Robbins tagged up from third base. Petry fired a perfect throw to Bakes at home plate and tagged out Robbins, limiting the damage with an inning-ending double play.
South Carolina carried the momentum into the bottom of the eighth, beginning with a double to short-left field from junior catcher Max Kaufer. Senior infielder Jordan Carrion drove home Kaufer with an RBI single, but the Gamecocks were far from finished. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases up for redshirt senior outfielder Blake Jackson, who drove a single into right field, giving South Carolina the 8-7 lead.
Petry broke it wide open in the next at-bat, lifting a moonshot home run into the left-field bleachers to give South Carolina an 11-7 lead. The homer was Petry's 49th career jack, moving him into standalone second for home runs in Gamecock history.
"I told Ethan after the game that what he did tonight is something that's going to carry him through in professional baseball," Mainieri said.
Pitzer closed the game out in the ninth to give the Gamecocks the victory, earning the winning decision.
Gamecocks win second high-scoring game over the Eagles
The South Carolina baseball team defeated Morehead State 16-11 to win its final series before the start of conference play.
Morehead State scored first after a solo home run from Germann to give the Eagles a one-run lead.
The Gamecocks then struck back with Scobey reaching second on an error. He advanced to third on a flyout, and Henry Kaczmar drove him in with an RBI single, making it 1-1.
In the bottom of the second, Stone delivered a grand slam to left field, scoring in Carrion, Kaczmar and Kaufer after all three reached base. The home run was an error on the Eagles' pitching game, as a throwing error earlier in the inning allowed Kaczmar and Scobey to get on base. Stone’s grand slam gave South Carolina a 5-1 lead.
Going into the bottom of the third, South Carolina extended the lead with a two-run homer by Scobey to left field, scoring Jones. The Gamecocks capitalized on a strong start to the inning, with Jones reaching base and Scobey following up the hit to make it 7-1.
The Gamecocks increased the lead to 8-1 after Carrion drove in Hollins with an RBI double following a couple of errors, extending its lead. Carrion scored on a wild pitch after junior pitcher Ethan Davis was swapped out after an injury.
The Gamecocks made it 12-1 when Hollins walked with the bases loaded, scoring Petry. This added to the Gamecocks' commanding lead, with the bases loaded from a series of walks and a hit-by-pitch.
To start the fourth inning, Morehead State scored four runs to cut the 10-run lead down to a seven-run lead. After a walk and a hit-by-pitch, freshman catcher Caden Sheridan and Robbins had a pair of RBI doubles to score four more runs for Morehead State.
"You got to give credit to Morehead State, you know, they really swing the bats — they recruit hitters and set up their ballpark, and they've got power, and they just never quit," Mainieri said.
South Carolina responded when junior infielder Cayden Gaskin grounded out to third, driving in junior infielder Will Tippett from third. The score then became 13-5, and a wild pitch allowed Carrion to score from third, pushing the lead even further to 14-5, ending the fourth inning.
In the top of the fifth, Morehead State scored three runs. Germann hit a three-run homer to left center, scoring Thomas and Dutton to make it 14-8.
Going into the sixth inning, the Eagles battled back. Morehead State scored three runs to make the score 13-11. In the seventh inning, Hollins had an RBI single, bringing junior fielder Jase Woita home to make the score 15-11.
In the eighth, Gaskin singled to send Tippett home, and the game ended with the Gamecocks winning 16-11.
Gamecocks survive close pitcher's duel, win 1-0 against Morehead State
The South Carolina baseball team won its final game of the weekend, defeating Morehead State 1-0 to earn another series sweep.
Senior pitcher Dylan Eskew made his fourth start of the season Sunday afternoon and had a slow start on the day. Eskew allowed one hit and no runs, with only one strikeout in his three innings of work.
"Eskew is Eskew," Mainieri said. "He's just going to battle you to the end, but he just walked too many leadoff hitters. He gave up five free passes in three-plus innings, four walks and a hit batter. To his credit, he never gives up, he just keeps battling."
Jones and Scobey had the Gamecocks' first two hits of the game in the second inning, adding to their impressive weekends. They had a combined eight hits and seven RBIs in the series.
The Gamecocks' hot offense seemed to cool off for the final game of the weekend, with the first real production happening in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Senior catcher Talmadge LeCroy, making his first start of the weekend since his injury, walked to lead off the inning. An RBI single by Hall pushed LeCroy home for the first and only run of the game.
The Eagles had their first chance to answer back in the top of the seventh inning following a leadoff walk from sophomore infielder Alex Kean and a bunt single from junior infielder Andy Cisneros. With two outs and bases loaded, junior infielder Griffin Olsen struck out to end the Eagles' rally chance.
The Gamecock defense made two double plays on the day in addition to the error-free game to help in the winning efforts. In both plays, Carrion was a main component in the execution.
"Jordan Carrion is just playing so well, I'm just so happy for him and proud of him ... I think he's really giving our team a lift with his defense, he put a perfect bunt down today, got a base hit. He's just playing really inspired baseball," Mainieri said.
The Gamecock pitching staff shut out Morehead State on Sunday, limiting them to only four hits and striking out nine batters.
Junior pitcher Jackson Soucie entered the game in the top of the fourth inning, marking his fourth appearance of the season. Soucie had two strikeouts, one hit and no runs in two innings.
Combined efforts between Pitzer and junior pitcher Brendan Sweeney helped the Gamecocks in the Sunday shutout. Pitzer pitched three innings with two walks and four strikeouts. Sweeney closed out the contest in the ninth, striking out two in the inning to earn the combined save.
What's next?
The Gamecocks face Georgia State at Founders Park on March 12. The game will start at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.