USC bullpen falters late as Gamecocks drop series at No. 19 Auburn
There’s still a month left to go in the college baseball season, but South Carolina’s margin for error keeps getting thinner.
On Saturday, Mark Kingston’s Gamecocks (19-19, 6-11 SEC) dropped another SEC series on the road at No. 19 Auburn, falling to the Tigers 8-6 one day after losing 6-3. With the loss, the Gamecocks slid back to .500 on the season, and their road record dropped to 2-9. USC and Auburn wrapped up the series Sunday at 3 p.m.
For a moment it appeared as though the Gamecocks might rally to even the series. Down 3-0 in the sixth inning, junior Braylen Wimmer hit a three-run home run to left field to tie the game, and the Gamecocks added three more runs an inning later to take a 6-3 lead.
But as has been the case throughout much of the season, the injury-riddled USC pitching staff struggled to close out the game. After USC took a three-run lead in the top of the seventh, starter Noah Hall loaded the bases in the bottom half of the frame. Freshman left-hander Matthew Becker had been a valuable late-inning arm of late, collecting six saves, but he couldn’t pitch his way out of the jam. Becker allowed four runs to score on a bases-loaded walk, two singles and a sac fly, giving Auburn the lead.
An inning later, Becker gave up a home run to Auburn second baseman Cole Foster as the Tigers padded their lead.
With the loss, the Gamecocks have now dropped four of their six SEC series this season. Just four SEC weekends remain. The Gamecocks came into the contest ranked No. 65 in the RPI, and their season highlights include series wins over Texas, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. But midweek losses to Presbyterian, The Citadel and Xavier hurt the team’s overall resume.
“We’ve lost a lot of our room for error at this point,” Kingston said earlier this week. “So every game feels important — the SEC games just even more so. But I think if you’re a player, you love to play in important baseball games.”
South Carolina baseball remaining schedule
- Thursday: vs. Alabama, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Friday: vs. Alabama, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Saturday: vs. Alabama, Noon (SEC Network)
- Wednesday, May 4: vs. N.C. A&T, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Friday, May 6: at Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Saturday, May 7: at Texas A&M, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Sunday, May 8: at Texas A&M, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Tuesday, May 10: vs. USC Upstate, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Friday, May 13: vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Saturday, May 14: vs. Kentucky, Noon (SEC Network)
- Sunday, May 15: vs. Kentucky, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Tuesday, May 17: vs. Charlotte, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Thursday, May 19: at Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Friday, May 20: at Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Thursday, May 21: at Florida, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published April 23, 2022 at 6:12 PM.
