Steady bats carry South Carolina to sixth straight win

Two years ago, Gardner-Webb pitcher Noah Davis authored one of the lowest points in one of the lowest seasons in South Carolina baseball recent history.

The then-sophomore allowed zero runs in six innings in an upset win in Founders Park, one of only two victories he got on the 2019 season. On Tuesday, the No. 14 Gamecocks got a small measure of vengeance.

Davis faced only six batters total. He took a loss without registering an out, as Mark Kingston’s squad steadily held off the Bulldogs 9-4 to run USC’s winning streak to six games.

And don’t think the Gamecocks were not aware they’d seen Davis before.

“A few of the older guys definitely remember that — that midweek game we played against them,” shortstop George Callil said. “So it was good to get that out of the way and play like we did tonight.”

The worst damage was done in the first. After a Josiah Sightler RBI double, Gamecocks catcher Wes Clarke clubbed his 14th home run of the season to give the Gamecocks a four-run lead.

The Bulldogs (7-10) managed to get one run on the board against Jack Mahoney, but USC (17-6) extended the lead, getting the first home run of the season from shortstop George Callil, the sixth of his career. Brady Allen also hit a home run.

Mahoney (1-0), a freshman from Chicago in his first career start, tossed four innings of one-run ball, striking out six. Jackson Phipps, another freshman, relieved Mahoney and struck out five in two innings.

“The nerves really weren’t too bad,” Maloney said. “Just kind of remind myself I’ve done this a million times before, just not on such a big stage. Felt really good to be out there, especially after Friday against Florida. Didn’t have my best stuff. I think I had an all right night.”

Davis (1-2) lasted 18 pitches two years after he bedeviled a South Carolina team that finished near the cellar of the SEC.

That squad was a far cry from this one, which sprang to life over the weekend and is looking to make its way in a particularly brutal SEC.

The Gamecocks were coming off a sweep of No. 5 Florida and now head into a relatively lighter period in the SEC schedule. They catch an unranked Georgia team this weekend and then a struggling Missouri program. After that, they’ll catch recently-ranked LSU and three Top-5 teams back-to-back-to-back in Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas. That’s after facing the top-5 Vanderbilt and Florida the past two weekends.

And they’ll head into that, not off a dominant night, but off a workmanlike one.

“I thought it was a professional effort,” Kingston said. “We only walked two guys (Tuesday). To me, that’s a key. Thirteen strikeouts and two walks. Really, really nice to see that, and offensively again, we had a really nice night.”

Georgia defeats Clemson

Eight pitchers combined for a five-hit shutout in Georgia’s 2-0 win Tuesday night over Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. It was the Bulldogs’ first shutout in Clemson since 1936. The Tigers (12-10) had scored a run in 144 consecutive games dating to 2018.

Next South Carolina baseball games

Who: South Carolina (17-6, 4-2 SEC) at Georgia (17-7, 2-4 SEC)

Where: Foley Field in Athens

When: 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday

Watch: All three games will be streamed on SEC Network Plus

This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 10:11 PM.