Sweet sweep: South Carolina baseball takes three from third-ranked Florida
South Carolina baseball finished off its toughest stretch of the season with a convincing three-game sweep.
Braylen Wimmer homered and Ethan Petry drove in two runs as the sixth-ranked Gamecocks defeated No. 3 Florida, 7-5, on Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,242 at Founders Park.
The win completes a sweep over the Gators and ends arguably the toughest stretch of the season for the Gamecocks. South Carolina played LSU, Vanderbilt and Florida in consecutive weekends. All three teams were ranked in the top 5 at the time.
The Gamecocks went 5-3 during the stretch and are in the thick of the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division race. South Carolina is tied with Vanderbilt for first with 13-4 records. Vanderbilt finishes off its series with Tennessee on Sunday.
“Every time we have a chance to play a really good opponent, we are showing up and I see it consistently,” USC coach Mark Kingston said.
Kingston said his team’s performance confirms what he has known for a long time this season — the Gamecocks are special. He also didn’t shy away from letting his team cut loose and have fun within reason.
That’s because Kingston and the players are just a year removed from the 27-28 season and missed the 2022 NCAA regionals for the first time since 2018.
“Do they deserve to enjoy this process? Absolutely. When you are on a run like this and to not enjoy this, it would not be very smart,” Kingston said. “This is a great life experience and teams like this don’t come along every year. I want them to enjoy every day in this process.”
There is a good chance the Gamecocks (34-6) will move up inside the top five for the first time this year when the polls come out next week. USC entered the week ranked No. 6 by D1Baseball.com and were ranked No. 5 by Baseball America at one point.
“We’ve known we’re a top-three team in the country, and we’re going to be that on Monday. We didn’t shy away with it. We went out and handled business,” Wimmer said. “... There is not a team we have faced that we don’t think we can beat. It is still the SEC and we are going to be ready to go for the rest of the stretch.”
Wimmer went 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBI. His two-run homer in the first put the sellout crowd into a frenzy and gave the Gamecocks a 2-0 lead. USC sold out all three games in the series, only the fourth time in school history it sold out a series.
USC led 3-1 going into the fourth. Then, Petry added a two-run double and became the school’s all-time leader in RBI for a freshman, breaking the mark Justin Smoak set in 2006. It took Smoak 66 games to accomplish the feat while Petry set the record in just 40 games.
“I don’t know what to say about that guy right now,” Wimmer said of Petry.
Leadoff hitter Dylan Brewer had four hits and scored three times for USC. He was the catalyst for USC, which answered with at least run every time Florida scored in the top half of the inning.
Chapin product Matthew Becker pitched five strong innings in his second straight start in SEC play. The left-hander was moved into the starting rotation after Noah Hall was sidelined with a back injury, moving Jack Mahoney into the Game 2 starter’s role.
Becker (4-0) pitched four innings in last Saturday’s loss against Vanderbilt but was much more efficient and confident against the Gators, who came into the series batting .311 and had one of the best players in the country in Jac Caglianone.
The left-hander allowed just two hits, both solo homers by Cade Kurland, in his five innings of work.
“He stepped up big time and looked like a guy that should be pitching on an SEC weekend,” Kingston said of Becker. “On a big stage with a chance to sweep a series, I was so proud of him today.”
Becker was mainly used as a reliever last year with 16 of his 21 appearances from the bullpen. But he definitely is more comfortable and ready for big opportunities like the one he had Saturday.
“I feel like I am a completely different person than I was last year. I think it comes from being around the guys, pushing every day,” Becker said.
Florida did make things interesting in the ninth inning against closer Chris Veach, who was a teammate with Becker at Chapin. The Gators got a run on an error and had the tying run at the plate with two outs.
But Veach struck out Michael Robertson to end the game for his fourth save of the season.
South Carolina is off until hosting Auburn in a three-game series beginning Friday.
Next South Carolina baseball games
Friday: vs. Auburn, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Saturday: vs. Auburn, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Sunday: vs. Auburn, noon (SEC Network)
May 3: at Winthrop, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
This story was originally published April 22, 2023 at 4:43 PM.
