As Gamecocks honor Ray Tanner, USC baseball dominates in win over Sacred Heart
Ray Tanner stood behind home plate on a field recently named after him, trying to downplay his worthiness of the honor.
So he pointed to the men behind him, to the nearly 85 former players and assistants who congregated in Columbia on an overcast Saturday to be a part of the distinction.
Players who helped Tanner win over 700 games at USC. Who won two national championships and went to Omaha a half-dozen times. Players who, for the most part, helped the Gamecocks dominate for 16 years.
And, fittingly, Tanner and his players got to watch what they did so often: Just crush teams.
The Gamecocks (2-0) run-ruled Sacred Heart on Saturday afternoon, securing a 14-0 seven-inning victory.
“I sent a text message to the team last night,” said USC coach Paul Mainieri. “’There is no way we are losing on Ray Tanner Day. So just get your minds ready for this game.’ And the players responded.”
Here are three observations:
1. Matthew Becker shines
Mainieri joked on Friday — after his pitching staff, led by starter Dylan Eskew (nine Ks) struck out 16 batters — that he didn’t think his arms were capable of fanning that many batters.
Heck, after Saturday, they might be capable of more.
Senior lefty Matthew Becker picked up just where Eskew and Co. left off Friday, punching out nine batters in five innings — all while allowing just one hit and no walks. Freshman reliever Ryder Garino added four more strikeouts in his two innings, bolstering the count to 13.
“First pitch, I threw a strike. Nerves went away,” Becker said. “Now I feel like (I can) just build on today.”
Becker was absolutely superb, commanding his fastball everywhere Sacred Heart’s bats weren’t. His fastball doesn’t often get over 91 mph, yet eight of the nine Pioneers batters he struck out went down swinging.
“There’s something about his fastball that is just really hard to hit,” Mainieri said. “It’s not overpowering, but when he pitches in intersquad games and our hitters face him, they don’t square up his fastball either.”
It’s a heck of a start for this South Carolina pitching staff, which did have a surefire ace coming into the season.
2. USC putting the ball in play
There were constant changes to the scoreboard on Saturday, the official scorer changing his mind on numerous occasions about a hit or error call.
At one point, Sacred Heart had four errors. Not long after, it had just two.
In any case, the Pioneers made mistake after mistake. Botched ground balls. Dropped line drives. Passed balls. Throwing errors.
And South Carolina capitalized. Despite Sacred Heart starting a pitcher pumping 94 mph, the Gamecocks were disciplined at the plate, striking out just five times while walking 11 times.
“They helped us quite a bit today,” Mainieri said, “with with a lot of free passes and a few missed plays in the field.”
Mainieri said he doesn’t want the Gamecocks to be known as a small-ball team — which is fine. But on days when it’s 55 degrees and raining, it’s nice to know South Carolina is capable of scoring without the long ball.
3. Gamecocks got guys reps
These early-season games against mid-majors are supposed to help fine-tune everything. Get guys at-bats and experience against other teams.
In games like Friday, when USC squeaked by for a 5-3 win, that can’t happen.
But in game two, Mainieri was able to get 16 guys to the plate.
“So many of those guys came off the bench and swung the bat well,” Mainieri said.
Of note: Junior Jace Wiota was the first to pinch hit and ripped a two-RBI single to the opposite field. Also, freshmen Gavin Braland and Beau Hollins — a River Bluff alum — secured their first collegiate hits.
USC baseball schedule: Next 3 games
- Sunday vs. Sacred Heart, noon (SEC Network Plus)
- Tuesday at Winthrop, 4 p.m. (ESPN+)
- Wednesday vs. Queens, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published February 15, 2025 at 4:22 PM.
