Late home runs lift No. 6 South Carolina to victory in tight midweek battle
No. 6 South Carolina was due for a breather.
Mark Kingston’s Gamecocks are in the midst of a brutal stretch of their SEC schedule, just finishing off a series split against No. 1 LSU followed by a series loss at No. 4 Vanderbilt. On Thursday, No. 3 Florida will come to town.
In between, USC hosted Charleston Southern on Tuesday, the kind of opponent USC has been able to put away with ease this season — although Tuesday night wasn’t quite as easy. The scrappy Buccaneers traded blows with the Gamecocks in the early innings, making USC (31-6, 10-4 SEC) sweat a little more than it would’ve liked to in a 10-4 win.
“It’s not good for a coach’s blood pressure; you prefer blowouts,” Kingston quipped after the game. “But every now and then you need to see how your team reacts, and I thought that we were a little tired tonight. We played the big series at Vanderbilt. We got on a nine-hour bus ride getting back.
“And so I thought we’d just were a little bit tired and it was really good to see the team just keep playing and playing and dig deep and finish that game strong because that’s not always the case. That doesn’t always happen”
Highly touted freshman right-hander Eli Jerzembeck didn’t have his best stuff for the Gamecocks in a short outing. Leadoff hitter Nico Regino singled on the first pitch Jerzembeck threw, setting the tone for the rest of the lineup. In two innings, Jerzembeck allowed four runs on six hits and a walk, struggling to generate swings and misses.
The USC offense responded by getting to CSU starter Devin MacWatters for three runs in the first — a two-run single by third baseman Talmadge LeCroy the big blow. Catcher Cole Messina added a two-out RBI double in the next frame, before MacWatters regrouped to throw two scoreless innings.
The Gamecocks finally jumped ahead for good in the sixth inning against CSU’s bullpen. With a man on second, outfielder Dylan Brewer drove a mammoth two-run home run to right field, the ball clanking off a tree behind the Gamecocks bullpen. An inning later, Messina drilled a leadoff double and first baseman Gavin Casas followed with a two-run blast to expand the lead to 8-4.
That lead was all USC’s pitching staff needed as relievers Dylan Eskew, Nick Proctor and Cade Austin combined to hold CSU scoreless from the third inning onward. Eskew and Proctor were especially effective against the Buccaneers, combining to strike out eight and allow just one hit in six innings.
Though USC won, the Gamecocks were dealt a blow in the form of an injury. LeCroy, the team’s starting third baseman, appeared to tweak his hamstring while beating out an infield single in the third inning. Infielder Michael Braswell entered the game for him on the basepaths and played third base the remainder of the game. Kingston said after the game that LeCroy is day-to-day and that the team isn’t yet sure if it is a pulled hamstring or cramping.
USC baseball weekend schedule
Thursday: vs. Florida, 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Friday: vs. Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Saturday: vs. Florida, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published April 18, 2023 at 10:14 PM.
