3 key talking points as South Carolina baseball avoids sweep by Auburn
The No. 3 South Carolina baseball team stumbled through its worst weekend of the season against an Auburn team that came into the weekend below .500 in the SEC.
USC (35-8, 14-6 SEC) rallied Sunday to avoid a sweep at the hands of the visiting Tigers (25-18-1, 9-12), coming from behind in Game 3 to win 8-7. If not for a go-ahead three-run home run by true freshman Will Tippett in the seventh inning, USC might’ve suffered its first sweep of the season.
The unexpected series loss comes one week after USC vaulted up rankings with a sweep of then-No. 3 Florida. With injuries starting to mount, the final stretch of the season could be more challenging than expected for the Gamecocks.
Here are three key storylines for USC following the Auburn series.
RPI slips, but national seed still in play
It’s not time to panic, Gamecock fans.
As head coach Mark Kingston told his team after USC dropped the series, adversity is bound to pop up throughout a 30-game SEC schedule. One series loss doesn’t undo the last three months of postseason resume building — as long as USC is able to get back on track in the season’s final month.
Coming off the Florida sweep, the Gamecocks opened the week in first place in the SEC East, No. 1 in national RPI rankings and as a projected No. 3 national seed in both D1Baseball and Baseball America field of 64 projections.
With No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 5 Florida both winning series this weekend, USC is bound to slide in those projections — but not as much as you might think.
As of Sunday afternoon, after two losses to Auburn, USC was sitting at No. 2 in the RPI and the team’s non-conference RPI remained No. 1. Both metrics keep the Gamecocks safely within national seed range — although they’ll be tested with back-to-back road trips against Kentucky and Arkansas the next two weekends.
USC injuries piling up
Last season, rampant injuries to USC’s pitching staff derailed the Gamecocks’ season. This season, other than a back injury to Saturday starter Noah Hall, the Gamecocks have largely stayed healthy on the mound, which is a key reason for their success.
However, the team’s starting infield has been much less fortunate.
USC lost second baseman Will McGillis to a broken arm a little over a month ago. Third baseman Talmadge LeCroy has missed the last two weekends with a hamstring injury. And on Friday night, shortstop Braylen Wimmer tweaked his hamstring, an injury that Kingston said could cost the senior two weeks.
As a result, a Gamecocks lineup that ranks second in the NCAA in home runs and fifth in scoring lost much of its sting. With the slew of injuries, Kingston moved catcher Cole Messina to third base, replacing him behind the dish with Clemson transfer Jonathan French. The Gamecocks are also leaning on a youthful middle infield with sophomore Michael Braswell manning shortstop and Tippett starting for McGillis at second base.
Sluggers like Messina and freshman Ethan Petry continue to produce, but the Gamecocks need to find production from the thinned-out bottom of their batting order moving forward. Sunday might’ve been a start, as Tippett’s first career home run in the seventh gave USC the lead and struggling veteran Caleb Denny tallied four hits.
Who’s the ace?
All three starters allowed at least five earned runs for the Gamecocks this weekend — an unusual off weekend for one of the top pitching staffs in the country.
Despite the unit’s success this season, questions remain at the front of the rotation. USC had high expectations for junior right-hander Will Sanders heading into this season, but the Friday starter’s spring has been defined by inconsistency. After seemingly turning the corner in his last two starts, Sanders ran into a buzzsaw against Auburn. With eight runs allowed, his ERA now sits at 5.61 for the season.
With Hall sidelined for the foreseeable future, junior Jack Mahoney might be the team’s top starter (4-2, 3.91), although even he was shelled for six runs against the aggressive Auburn offense on Saturday. Sophomore Matthew Becker seems to have earned the Sunday spot after starting in that role the last three weeks, but arms like James Hicks, Eli Jones and Eli Jerzembeck could change that conversation.
If the postseason started today, would Sanders get the Game 1 nod? Given his up-and-down results, it’s not a certainty. This weekend was one of the first in which USC clearly missed Hall, who hasn’t pitched since injuring his back March 31 at Mississippi State. Last season, Hall developed a reputation as USC’s big-game pitcher, starting most of the team’s Friday games.
Next four USC baseball games
Wednesday: at Winthrop, 6 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Friday: at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Saturday: at Kentucky, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Sunday: at Kentucky, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
This story was originally published April 30, 2023 at 6:43 PM.
