UNC Greensboro holds off South Carolina rally to tie weekend series
On a day in which temperatures in Columbia largely sat in the mid-50s, South Carolina’s offense dipped below freezing for the bulk of its 5-4 loss to UNC-Greensboro on Saturday at Founders Park.
“They held us at bay for a while,” USC head coach Mark Kingston said. “Just too little too late there at the end.”
South Carolina (1-1) entered the year with question marks at the plate. Late comeback aside, days like Saturday offered a brief glimpse into what will be a learning process for Kingston’s squad this spring.
USC stranded its first five runners and started the afternoon 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The Gamecocks finished the afternoon a combined 2-for-9 with two outs and struck out nine times.
South Carolina’s usual suspects showed up Saturday. Braylen Wimmer and Andrew Eyster each recorded three hits as their hot starts to the season continued into Game 2. Virginia Tech transfer Kevin Madden also added two hits.
Too often, though, South Carolina let its early chances slip away as UNCG built as much as a four-run lead.
“We’ve got to keep battling, stick to our approach” Wimmer said. “Guys have good stuff in this league. We’ve just got to put good swings on good pitches and good things happen.”
Junior college transfer James Hicks earned the first start of his Gamecocks career on Saturday. He rolled to a 1-2-3 first frame, tossing just nine pitches. Two singles and a hit batter into the second inning, Hicks retired the next five Spartans he faced as he coasted toward the fourth inning.
It was in the fifth frame he hit his wall.
UNCG cleanup hitter Hogan Windis connected the firmest of any of Spartan batter Saturday when he smoked a two-RBI double down the left-field line to push the visitors’ lead to 4-0.
Hicks was pulled one batter later, allowing nine hits and striking out five in his 4.1 innings of work.
“It felt amazing for the first three innings,” he said, cracking a smile when asked how to describe his first outing. “But that’s not how I drew it up. I put that loss on me. A starter can’t go four-and-a-third and expect to win.”
South Carolina’s seemingly shallow bullpen kept the Gamecocks within striking distance through the back half of Saturday’s affair. The quartet of Parker Coyne, Michael Esposito, CJ Weins and Aidan Hunter combined for 3.2 innings of no-hit ball, striking out six Spartans in the process.
As the techno tunes of Farruko’s “Pepas” blared around Founders Park between the eighth and ninth innings, fans — some donning winter coats or carrying blankets — departed their seats and headed for the exits.
Those who remained were treated to a brief spell of garnet and black-infused hope, despite a 5-1 UNCG lead aided by an insurance run in the top half of the final frame.
Michael Braswell opened the suddenly scorching home half of the ninth inning when he found a hole through the left side of the infield for a two-run single with two outs and the bases loaded.
Wimmer promptly worked a seven-pitch walk against UNCG ace Austin Parsley, who was called on to close out Game 2 and is slated to start Sunday’s contest. Eyster followed with an infield single deep in the hole between second and third base to load the bases and once more cut the deficit to just a run.
The 6,814 South Carolina-partial crowd roared as Josiah Sightler dug in at the plate.
Sightler had already gone down swinging in the first inning with runners on second and third. His encore included slapping an offering from UNCG starter Jared Mathewson to the right side for a 4-6-3 double play with Wimmer and Eyster already aboard.
Sightler, though, hung tough. His ripped RBI single through the middle got South Carolina its first run in the sixth inning. Once more, he stood in the batter’s box with runners aboard.
Parsely stepped and fired his 0-1 offering. Sightler sent the pitch soaring toward dead center. UNCG outfielder Bradley Bott seemingly took a misstep before racing back toward the wall. There, just shy of the warning track, he snagged the ball as his teammates spilled over the visiting railing.
Upset secured.
“He’s supposed to hit that ball hard through the middle — he did that — and the center fielder made a really nice play,” Kingston said. “And, again, the wind held that ball up a little bit and a lot of days that ball is hit into the wall. Just wasn’t meant to be today.”
The Gamecocks slogged through the first eight innings of Saturday’s loss. South Carolina will need more of its sizzling ninth-inning offense to secure a series win in a decisive Game 3 on Sunday.
If not, it’ll make for a frosty opening weekend in Columbia.
Next USC Baseball Game
Who: South Carolina vs. UNC-Greensboro
When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Founders Park in Columbia
Watch: Streaming on SEC Network Plus
This story was originally published February 19, 2022 at 4:02 PM.
