South Carolina baseball (23-18, 4-14 SEC) hosted the Ole Miss Rebels (28-12, 10-8 SEC) in a three-game conference series this past weekend.
The Gamecocks entered the series looking for its first conference series win of the season, while the Rebels were looking for its fourth series win in its last five attempts.
The Gamecocks took the first game of the series with a 3-2 win and followed that up with a 7-2 in the second game on Friday to clinch the series victory. South Carolina dropped the final game 12-2 on Saturday but finished with a 2-1 series victory.
Here's a recap of the games:
Stone leads Gamecocks to Thursday night win
Sophomore pitcher Brandon Stone started for South Carolina in game one and delivered a complete-game performance. Stone gave up two runs and six hits on an efficient 86 pitches. He also struck out four and walked none in his first start since April 6.
"I felt pretty good from the beginning," Stone said. "This week, my bullpen with (pitching) coach (Terry) Rooney, we really worked on getting the ball down again. Just kept it down, made them get themselves out."
South Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when junior outfielder Nathan Hall hit a leadoff double and later scored on senior infielder Jordan Carrion's RBI groundout. The Rebels tied the game in the third after sophomore catcher Austin Fawley hit a solo home run.
The Gamecocks regained the lead in the fifth on three hits. Freshmen infielders Beau Hollins and K.J. Scobey opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Freshman catcher Gavin Braland later singled, scoring Hollins. Hall hit an RBI single, giving the Gamecocks a 3-1 lead.
"We're always going to do our best when we have runners in scoring position," Hall said. "We're going to do everything we can to score those runs. We got it done tonight, which was awesome."
Ole Miss made it a one-run game in the sixth when senior outfielder Mitchell Sanford homered. Stone retired the Rebels in order five times, including each of the final three innings. The Rebels threatened in the ninth after Sanford reached on a fielding error by Scobey. Stone worked out of the jam by forcing a pair of groundouts, sealing the win for the Gamecocks.
"He completely dominated the game today, gave his team a chance," head coach Paul Mainieri said. "We got a couple of big hits and played great defense. It was a wonderful win for us."
Both teams recorded six hits in game one. Hall finished 2-4 with a double and an RBI, while Braland went 1-3 with an RBI.
Gamecocks earn first conference series win of season against Rebels
The Gamecocks earned the first series win of the season in SEC play after defeating the Rebels 7-2 on Friday afternoon.
Sophomore pitcher Jake McCoy made his ninth appearance of the season and had another strong performance on the mound. McCoy went 6.1 innings, his longest outing of the season, and had seven strikeouts and three walks. McCoy also had five consecutive innings of shutout work in the win.
"I think we've been pitching really well; we've just been on the wrong side of two pitches a game," McCoy said. "I think finally now we're starting to have that mindset to get on the other side of them, and I think we're pitching great."
The Rebels took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning following a leadoff home run from freshman designated hitter Hayden Federico.
A leadoff walk from Hall and a two-out single from junior outfielder Ethan Petry put runners on the corners for the Gamecocks in the bottom of the first. The Gamecocks took a 3-1 lead following an RBI single from junior designated hitter Jase Woita, with Petry scoring on a wild pitch and Woita eventually scoring on a fielding error.
Hall blasted his sixth home run of the season in the second inning to give the Gamecocks a 4-1 lead.
Redshirt senior outfielder Blake Jackson kept the Gamecock offense rolling in the sixth inning, hitting his second home run of the season to push the lead to 5-1.
The Gamecocks saw the first threat of the game in the eighth inning following back-to-back two-out walks. An RBI single from junior infielder Judd Utermark gave the Rebels its first run since the top of the first. Despite the threat, redshirt sophomore pitcher Ashton Crowther came in and got the final out of the inning.
Scobey walked and Jackson reached on a throwing error in the bottom of the eighth, with Braland placing a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. The Gamecocks took a 7-2 lead courtesy of an RBI single from Hall, which was enough to earn the win.
"Getting a lead and not having to dig out of a hole has been a very refreshing feeling," Mainieri said. "But you only do that when your starting pitcher goes out there and pitches great for you."
Gamecocks’ pitching staff struggles in run-rule defeat
The Gamecocks were defeated 12-2 by the Rebels on Saturday afternoon, missing a chance for a series sweep.
The Rebels used a huge first inning to take a 7-0 lead that proved to be too much for the Gamecocks to come back from.
Sanford began the game with a lead-off home run on a full count that was followed by an RBI single from Utermark to put the Rebels up 2-0. Junior pitcher Jarvis Evans Jr. started for the Gamecocks and left the game in the first inning with the bases loaded after giving up four hits.
Evans Jr. was replaced by sophomore pitcher Parker Marlatt, who gave up a grand slam to Fawley to push the Rebels’ lead to 6-0. Marlatt left the game and was replaced by senior pitcher Matthew Becker.
Becker started slow, walking three consecutive batters to give the Rebels a 7-0 lead before striking out Utermark to get out of the inning. Becker was then able to strike out the side in the second inning to keep the score at 7-0.
Hollins got the Gamecocks on the board in the second inning with a two-run home run that cut the lead to 7-2.
A solo home run from junior infielder Will Furniss reopened the scoring in the sixth inning for the Rebels, then leading 8-2. This marked the end of the day for Becker, the Gamecocks’ most successful pitcher of the day, who pitched 4.1 innings with six strikeouts, five walks, three hits and one earned run allowed.
Becker was replaced by sophomore pitcher Tyler Pitzer, who walked three consecutive batters before being replaced by sophomore pitcher Aydin Palmer. Federico hit a two-run single to extend the lead to 10-2 before the Gamecocks were able to close out the sixth inning.
Sanford hit his second home run of the day in the seventh inning to push the Rebels’ lead to 11-2. The Gamecocks turned to junior pitcher Brendan Sweeney before Utermark tacked on another RBI single to make the score 12-2.
The Gamecocks were unable to get on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, confirming the run-rule victory for the Rebels.
“We played great these last two days,” Mainieri said. “Our starting pitchers were phenomenal, gave us a chance to win. Today, we gave up seven runs in the first inning.”
What's next?
South Carolina (23-18, 4-14 SEC) continues its season on Tuesday at home against North Florida (21-19, 9-9 ASUN). First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+.