South Carolina baseball salvages first SEC series vs. Ole Miss: 3 things we learned
South Carolina defeated Mississippi 6-2 in Oxford Sunday afternoon to avoid being swept in the opening weekend of SEC play.
Matthew Becker earned the win with 5.1 innings of four-hit relief. Starter Roman Kimball struggled with control and couldn’t get out of the second inning. Becker came on with two outs and the bases loaded to get a ground ball to third that ended the threat.
Tyler Causey and Talmadge LeCroy each drove in two runs. Causey got the scoring started with a two-run home run into the wind in the second inning. LeCroy delivered a two-run double as part of a three-run sixth inning.
“It’s really hard to play as well as we did today, on the road in the SEC, against a team like we played after two frustrating days,” South Carolina coach Mark Kingston told reporters afterward. “I’m proud of the resolve we showed. It showed a lot.”
Here are three things we learned from the weekend.
Lineup unsettled
The Gamecocks came into Sunday’s series finale 2-of-22 with runners in scoring position and 5-of-31 with runners on base during the first two games. That caused Kingston to shuffle his lineup, trying to find the right spark.
Parker Noland was inserted to the leadoff spot for the first time this season. Ethan Petry, who has struggled in the first 20 games of the season, moved to the two-hole. Kennedy Jones was inserted into the No. 3 spot. LeCroy settled into the No. 5 spot and Causey played first base in place of Gavin Casas. Blake Jackson started in left field.
Maybe the most important thing is South Carolina (15-5, 1-2 SEC) only struck out seven times, which is significant considering they struck out 26 times in the first two games. They had season highs with six runs and 11 hits in five games against Power Five games. It was the first win in those five chances.
“I wanted to give us a chance to maybe get a spark with more than hitting the long ball,” Kingston said. “I thought we saw a little more multi-dimensional lineup.”
Kingston typically would hope to have things settled by this point of the season.
Becker might have earned spot in weekend rotation
When South Carolina released the probable pitchers for this weekend, the Sunday spot was TBA. Kimball made his third start but walked five in 1.2 innings. Becker, the senior from Chapin, stopped the bleeding and was effective in his outing.
Becker improved to a team-best 4-0 on the season but only has two midweek starts to his credit. His other four appearances have come in relief. He had an injury scare just before the beginning of the regular season but seems to be all the way back. He threw 78 pitches Sunday and allowed two runs on four hits with four strikeouts and no walks. His ERA is 2.45 on the season.
“It’s hard to give (Becker) enough credit for what he did,” Kingston said. “Came in with the bases loaded and got us out of that jam against a guy that hit three home runs (Saturday). He was as good as I’ve seen him.”
Becker could be the third guy in the rotation behind Eli Jones and Dylan Eskew when Vanderbilt visits Founders Park for a three -game series beginning next Friday night. Vanderbilt swept Auburn this weekend.
Jones continues hot streak
Jones was the best hitter on the weekend and raised his average to .388 after going 7-of-12 over the course of the three games. He was one of the most coveted players in the transfer portal this offseason out of UNC-Greensboro.
He struggled some in the fall and early season, but he’s earned the right to be in the lineup every day regardless if it’s a right-handed or left-handed pitcher.
SOUTH CAROLINA BASEBALL SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Tuesday, vs USC Upstate, Flour Field, 6 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Friday vs Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Saturday vs Vanderbilt, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Sunday at Vanderbilt, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)