Offense comes to life late as Gamecocks tie series with Missouri
For the past couple of games, South Carolina has been searching for a big swing — the kind of swing that breaks games open.
Before Saturday, the Gamecocks (20-9, 7-4 SEC) had put up a combined four runs and eight hits in their last two games, resulting in a midweek loss to North Carolina and a Game 1 loss to Missouri at home on Friday night.
In the fifth inning of Saturday’s 11-1 win over Mizzou, the Gamecocks finally found the offensive jolt they needed.
Junior center fielder Brady Allen — one of the team’s veteran leaders and most consistent spark plugs — turned on a pitch low in the zone and drilled it over the left-field fence for a three-run home run. The Gamecocks continued to build their lead from there.
Before that frame, Tigers right-hander Spencer Miles had held the Gamecocks offense in check, holding the team hitless through three innings and scoreless through four, while using a fastball that touched 93 miles per hour with life up in the zone.
“It just felt like at that point, we struggled last night offensively, and we’re going to the bottom of the fifth and we haven’t scored a run yet, so I thought Brady Allen’s home run was key,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “I thought that kind of released a little bit of that pressure and allowed guys to just kind of relax and take good at-bats the rest of the way.”
Allen’s homer, his ninth of the year, knocked Miles out of rhythm and allowed the Gamecocks to dig into the underbelly of Missouri’s bullpen, where the real damage was done. The Gamecocks churned through three Tigers pitchers in a six-run sixth inning, scoring on three bases-loaded walks, two wild pitches and a sacrifice fly.
While a somewhat unconventional six-run outburst, it allowed the Gamecocks to cruise to the finish and tie the series at 1-1.
“At times I think we get a little too aggressive, and aggressive is good but aggressive can turn into reckless, and it can turn into helping the pitcher get you out because you’re swinging at bad pitches,” Kingston said. “I thought we did a better job today of swinging at the pitches we should swing at and taking the pitches we needed to take.”
On the mound, USC starter Brannon Jordan threw five gutsy innings, working his way in and out of trouble with four walks and eight strikeouts. The right-hander allowed just two hits, with his lone run scoring on a wild pitch. In the sixth inning, Jordan gave way to reliever Daniel Lloyd, who threw four scoreless innings to preserve the USC lead.
The Gamecocks will enter Sunday’s rubber match with the chance to win their third straight SEC series after opening conference play with a series loss at Vanderbilt. And after putting up a lopsided score on Saturday, the USC offense appears to have its mojo back.
“If we’re all on, I think personally we’re the best hitting team in the country — almost hands down,” Allen said. “And we haven’t exactly all been hot necessarily at the same time ... but we’ll get there soon.”
Next USC Baseball Game
Who: South Carolina (20-9, 7-4 SEC) vs. Missouri (11-18, 4-7)
When: Noon Sunday
Where: Founders Park
Watch: SEC Network
This story was originally published April 10, 2021 at 2:54 PM.
