Gamecocks shut out Mercer again, move to 10-0 with sweep
Given their explosive start to the season, South Carolina’s bats were bound to come back down to earth eventually.
Thankfully for the No. 14 Gamecocks, their pitching staff has proven just as lethal as their lineup.
With a 1-0 win over visiting Mercer on Sunday, the Gamecocks notched their second straight shutout and sealed a three-game sweep of the Bears. The Gamecocks have now won 10 straight games to open the year, matching their best start to a season since 2016.
Dating back to the end of last season, USC has won 15 straight.
“I just think it shows guys that if they trust the plan and if they work hard, this is what we expect,” head coach Mark Kingston said of the team’s 10-0 start.
“You recruit in a way and you prepare in a way and you practice in a way that gives these guys a chance to win games. And I think when they see themselves winning games and all kinds of games — close games, high-scoring games, low-scoring games — I just think you continue to have guys say, ‘OK, well I guess this is how we win games, and these are the things we have to do.’”
While much of the early-season conversation has revolved around junior slugger Wes Clarke and his eight home runs in the team’s first six games, South Carolina’s pitchers grabbed the spotlight against Mercer, allowing just one run in three games while striking out a combined 44 Mercer batters.
Following quality starts by ace Thomas Farr and Saturday starter Brannon Jordan, 6-foot-3 sophomore left-hander Julian Bosnic on Sunday might have been the most electric USC starter of the weekend. He didn’t allow a hit through 5.2 scoreless innings, striking out nine Mercer batters by mixing his 90-plus miles per hour fastball with a power breaking ball.
Still early in the season, the Gamecocks didn’t push Bosnic deep into the game, pulling him after his 89th pitch. The lefty was erratic at times, walking four batters and hitting two others, but when he did find the zone, Mercer couldn’t square him up.
Including the 6.2 innings he threw last season as a redshirt freshman, Bosnic has yet to allow a hit in 16.2 career innings for the Gamecocks. He’s struck out 21 batters to eight walks in 10 innings this season.
“It felt really good,” Bosnic said. “I lost command there a couple times, but to go 5.2 (innings) with not my best stuff is really good to set the team up in a good position to get a win.”
Right-hander Jack Mahoney struck out four in his 2.2 innings of relief, allowing a bloop single to Mercer second baseman Trevor Austin to end the no-hit bid with two outs in the eighth inning. Closer Brett Kerry would allow just one more Mercer hit — another single — in a scoreless ninth inning for the save.
Coming into the weekend, the Gamecocks ranked first in the nation in slugging percentage and homers per game, second in batting average and eighth in scoring with 10.1 runs per game. That offensive production dipped against Mercer, with the Gamecocks scoring just 10 runs in the three games combined.
But Kingston didn’t express concern about his hitters, pointing to the weather and Mercer’s pitching staff for reasons for the lull.
Though the Bears don’t feature the kind of high-velocity aces the Gamecocks will see in SEC play, their staff includes a mix of different arm angles and styles. Side-armer Jackson Kelley was the best of the bunch, holding the Gamecocks to just one run on four hits in 7.1 innings Sunday, with the lone run scoring on a groundout by third baseman Joe Satterfield.
“It’s just the nature of baseball,” Kingston said. “And that was what you had this weekend was a very cold, wind-blowing-in weekend at Founders Park, which we all know makes the park play extremely big. And you had a lot of guys pitching on their side that were very different arm angles, different speeds, just a tough matchup for a lot of SEC teams.
“All that really matters is we found ways to win.”
Next USC baseball game
Who: No. 14 South Carolina (10-0) at The Citadel (4-6)
When: 6 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park in Charleston
Watch: Streaming online via ESPN Plus
More scores and results
South Carolina softball: The No. 17 USC softball team (12-3) won three of four games this weekend at the Carolina Classic, including an 8-1 victory over host team UNC on Sunday.
Clemson baseball: Notre Dame defeated Clemson 3-2 on Sunday to win two games and clinch the series. The Tigers are 5-4 overall, 1-2 in ACC play.
This story was originally published March 7, 2021 at 2:55 PM.
