South Carolina baseball completes convincing sweep over No. 3 Vanderbilt
Last weekend, buried under the headlines of Selection Sunday and Shane Beamer about to kick off spring practice, there was South Carolina baseball — battered, beaten, left for dead by a vocal few on social media after dropping its conference-opening series at Ole Miss.
If South Carolina couldn’t beat Ole Miss, the thinking went, what chance did it have to score a run in its next three series — against No. 3 Vanderbilt or No. 11 Alabama or No. 7 Texas A&M?
Perhaps the Gamecocks baseball team operates much like its men’s basketball team: At their best when doubt is high and expectations are low.
On Sunday, in South Carolina’s 10-2 victory over the third-ranked Commodores, the Gamecocks did not just sweep Vandy for the first time since 2009, they bludgeoned them. Whipped them in every facet of the game. Showed how silly any premature assumptions about this South Carolina season were.
Including Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s drubbing, led by a sensational start by freshman Tyler Pitzer (6.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 9 Ks), South Carolina outscored Vanderbilt 26-9.
The Gamecocks (19-5, 4-2 SEC) had eight more hits. Two fewer errors. Perhaps most impressive: USC went three games without a single pitcher allowing more than two earned runs.
“Great day, great weekend, great series for us,” said coach Mark Kingston.
And, finally, South Carolina’s stars showed up. Ace Eli Jones opened the series with a statement, taking a perfect game into the seventh. Sluggers Ethan Petry and Cole Messina — who combined for two hits against Ole Miss — totaled eight hits against Vanderbilt with eight walks and 10 RBIs.
“It starts with our two big dogs in the middle,” Kingston said. “When Moose (Messina) and Ethan Petry are taking really good at-bats, then everything falls in time behind them and we look like a really good offense. When they struggle, then not so much.”
South Carolina, which hit the fourth-most home runs in the SEC last season, came into the Vandy series a team without many fireworks. In the first 21 games of the season, the Gamecocks hit just 30 home runs. Petry and Messina accounted for over half of those.
They led the charge again this weekend, but others followed suit as the Gamecocks belted seven home runs in three games. On Saturday, Petry hit two out of Founders Park and Messina belted one over the fence. On Sunday, Gavin Casas, Kennedy Jones and Dylan Brewer all went deep.
“Now, it’s starting to finally click and everything is coming together for us,” said Jones, who mashed a ball 411 feet in the second inning.
And South Carolina might have solidified its Sunday starter.
Making his first collegiate start, Pitzer — the 6-foot-2 freshman from just outside Pittsburgh — did not allow an earned run and gave very little offensive hope to one of the top teams in the nation.
Kingston was debating between starting Pitzer or Matthew Becker on Sunday, but opted for the freshman given how well Becker has pitched out of the bullpen this season. If Pitzer struggled early Sunday, Kingston thought, Becker could come in early with no issues.
But Becker didn’t see the field until the seventh inning.
“Pitzer was outstanding,” Kingston said. “His poise was good. His stuff was good. He was competitive. Looked like a veteran out there. ... Nine strikeouts, one walk to a team hitting .330? Couldn’t be more impressed.”
South Carolina baseball schedule
- Tuesday: vs. Presbyterian, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Thursday: at Alabama, 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Friday: at Alabama, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Saturday: at Alabama, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published March 24, 2024 at 4:05 PM.
