South Carolina baseball (20-17, 2-13 SEC) traveled to College Station, Texas, to take on the Texas A&M Aggies (20-15, 6-9 SEC) in a three-game conference series this past weekend.
The Gamecocks and the Aggies both entered the series ranked in the bottom five of the SEC standings, with each team having fewer than five conference wins. Both teams looked to gain momentum entering the back half of their respective conference schedules.
The Aggies, coming off a 2024 campaign where it lost in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, entered the season at the top of the preseason rankings. However, after a rough start in 2025, the Aggies have dropped out of the top-25 rankings as a whole.
The Gamecocks dropped game one of the series 8-7 in extra innings, dropped game two of the series 17-0 in seven innings and dropped game three of the series 15-12 in walk-off fashion.
Here is a recap of how the series went:
Gamecocks lose a back-and-forth battle in extra innings
South Carolina fell to the Aggies 8-7 in 10 innings on April 10 during the series’ first game in College Station.
The Aggies opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning on a wild pitch. Sophomore pitcher Jake McCoy worked his way out of a one-out jam with the bases loaded, holding the Aggies' lead to 1-0.
The Gamecocks responded with two runs of its own in the top of the second thanks to a solo home run by freshman infielder Beau Hollins and a sacrifice bunt by junior infielder Cayden Gaskin.
Junior outfielder Ethan Petry’s 10th home run of the season then extended South Carolina’s lead to 3-1 in the top of the third inning.
After loading the bases with zero outs in the bottom of the third inning, the Aggies scored five runs to retake a 6-3 lead. After a hit-by-pitch scored an Aggie run, redshirt sophomore infielder Blake Binderup cleared the bases with a grand slam.
The third inning put an end to McCoy’s night after throwing 3.0 innings, allowing six earned runs, five walks and four hits in the process.
South Carolina chipped back into the Aggies' lead in the fifth inning, as an aggressive effort by Gaskin scored himself from second base on an infield throwing error. Senior infielder Jordan Carrion then tacked on an RBI after hitting a sacrifice fly to right field.
The Aggies added on a run in the bottom of the fifth after a double by Binderup knocked in his fifth RBI of the game, extending the Aggies' lead to 7-5.
A solo home run by junior outfielder Nathan Hall cut the lead in half during the seventh inning, and an RBI single by junior fielder Jase Woita knotted the game at seven in the top of the eighth inning.
The South Carolina bullpen shined against the Aggies, as sophomore Parker Marlatt, redshirt sophomore Ashton Crowther and senior Caleb Jones threw a cumulative six innings while allowing just one hit and one earned run.
After having a chance to take the lead in the top of the ninth inning, the Gamecocks failed to hit the winning run home after stranding a man on third base with one out. Texas A&M junior utility player Jamal George also made a leaping catch up against the left field wall to start the inning, robbing junior infielder Henry Kaczmar of an extra base hit to lead off the inning.
This opened the door for the Aggies to walk it off in the bottom of the tenth inning after sophomore outfielder Caden Sorrell blasted a home run to left field, sealing an 8-7 victory and putting an end to the Gamecocks’ comeback hopes.
Gamecocks drop series after run-rule loss against the Aggies
The Gamecocks dropped the second game against the Aggies on Friday evening 17-0 in seven innings. The Gamecock offense only had five hits and struck out seven times in the run-rule loss.
The Aggies got to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning after a big offensive inning. A leadoff single, walk and hit-by-pitch quickly loaded the bases, with a second hit-by-pitch bringing the first run home. An RBI single from junior infielder Kaeden Kent added two more runs to the inning, with a sacrifice fly from Binderup finishing the productive inning for the Aggies.
Hollins opened the second inning with a leadoff double to get the Gamecock offense started after quickly falling behind. Despite Hollins’ leadoff double, the Gamecocks could not find a run in the inning.
Kent added two more runs to the Aggies' lead in the bottom of the third inning with a two-run home run, pushing the lead to 6-0.
Freshman pitcher Cooper Parks entered the game in the fourth inning and struggled to control the Aggies’ offense.
Parks walked three batters to load the bases for the Aggies with two outs. Kaczmar dropped the third out in shallow left field, letting the Aggies take an 8-0 lead after four innings.
The Aggies continued to attack the Gamecock pitching staff in the fifth inning, loading the bases once again. Redshirt junior pitcher Roman Kimball entered the game with the bases loaded and no outs and quickly gave up another run to the Aggies on a wild pitch.
Junior outfielder Jase LaViolette had an RBI single to score another run in the fifth inning. The Aggies added another run immediately after following a wild pitch.
A grand slam courtesy of sophomore catcher Bear Harrison added four more runs to the explosive inning as the Aggies took a 15-0 lead in the fifth inning.
The Aggies added two more runs in the sixth inning to defeat the Gamecocks 17-0 in seven innings.
The Gamecock pitching staff struggled in the loss against the Aggies, giving up 17 runs on 10 hits. The pitching staff only struck out seven batters and walked eight in the defeat.
Gamecocks fall late in high-scoring affair, swept by Aggies
The Gamecocks were defeated 15-12 by the Aggies on Saturday afternoon as the Aggies completed the sweep over the Gamecocks.
South Carolina led the game 12-2 in the sixth inning before the Aggies scored 13 unanswered runs, including two grand slams in the ninth, to win the game.
The Aggies struck first in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Freshman outfielder Terrence Kiel II was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. Kiel II stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by freshman catcher Gavin Braland. A sacrifice fly from Sorrell scored Kiel II for the first run of the game.
Kent scored off a wild pitch by senior pitcher Dylan Eskew to double the Aggies’ lead in the bottom of the second inning. Eskew was then able to get out of a two-out bases-loaded jam to keep the score at 2-0. The Gamecocks were able to cut the lead in half after a home run by senior outfielder Dalton Mashore in the top of the third inning, making it 2-1 in favor of the Aggies.
Eskew was replaced by junior pitcher Jarvis Evans Jr. in the bottom of the fourth inning after pitching 3.0 innings, giving up one earned run, five walks and two hits. Eskew also had three strikeouts.
The Gamecock offense came to life in the fifth inning, with senior outfielder Evan Stone leading off with a solo home run to tie the game at 2-2. An RBI double from Kaczmar scored two runs, Petry had an RBI single, and a final two runs from an RBI single from Stone gave the Gamecocks an 8-2 run lead over the Aggies.
The Gamecock bats stayed hot in the sixth inning, with Petry adding an RBI double to push the lead to 9-2. An RBI single from Carrion scored two more runs, extending the lead to 11-2. Hollins tacked on an RBI triple for a 12-2 lead.
LaViolette scored a run on a groundout to cut things down to a 12-3 Gamecock lead.
The Aggies added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning when Binderup hit a two-run home run, cutting the lead down to 12-5.
Evans Jr. was replaced by junior pitcher Brendan Sweeney in the eighth inning. Evans Jr. pitched 4.0 innings, giving up four hits, three earned runs and two walks. He also had four strikeouts on the day. A two-out RBI double from Sorrell made the score 12-7 in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Gamecocks had an opportunity to extend the lead with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning but were unable to capitalize late in the game.
Texas A&M graduate outfielder Hayden Schott cleared the bases with a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth, putting the Aggies within one run to make the score 12-11. The Gamecocks turned to Jones to try and close out the game. The Aggies were able to load the bases again, and Kent hit a walk-off grand slam to win the game 15-12 for the Aggies, who swept the Gamecocks.
What's next?
South Carolina returns home to Founders Park to play The Citadel on Tuesday. The game will start at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.