Gamecocks emerge from midweek baseball battle with Queens cold, wet and victorious
Wednesday was one of those interesting days when you could come to Founders Park and actually count the number of butts in seats. As the fifth inning began, 37 brave souls were sitting in chairs (it only dwindled from there), many bundled up so much that you could only see their eyes.
Another 100 or so were sitting or standing on the concourse, staying out of the rain but still braving the 39-degree weather to watch the Gamecocks (5-0) grind out a 7-2 victory over Queens University (2-2).
“I know you all think I’m crazy for insisting on playing today,” USC coach Paul Mainieri said. “Today was a test. I don’t care how much you put it out of your mind. It was cold. It was wet. It was windy. Those were as difficult conditions as you can play (in).”
Mainieri continued: “I told them after the game, ‘I’m certainly convinced no matter what is thrown our way this year, with regard to conditions, we’ll be ready to handle it.’ ”
This was a treacherous day for offensive baseball.
Sooner would a man climb Mount Everest in a tank top than hit a ball over the center-field fence Wednesday. We know this because USC slugger Ethan Petry hit a ball that way at 113 mph, a speed that should carry a baseball well over 400 feet. Instead, the Queens center fielder didn’t even have to back pedal to the warning track to catch the fly ball.
“We hit a lot of balls hard,” Mainieri said. “The bigger factor, more than the cold and the rain, was the wind.”
But South Carolina mustered just enough at the plate. A Petry RBI single in the first brought home the first run and the Gamecocks, after five innings without a score, began to piece together runs. One came through on a sac fly. One scored from a ground ball. Another via a balk. Then a wild pitch.
Offense doesn’t always need to be pretty. Just don’t tell that to Nathan Hall.
The Gamecocks’ leadoff hitter finished the day 4 for 5 with a double, RBI, stolen base and two runs scored. Through five games, the Clemson transfer center fielder is hitting .500.
“(I) don’t focus on the stats,” Hall had after the game. “Just trying to put a bunch of (quality) ABs together.”
It also helped that the Gamecocks’ pitching staff — which came into the 2025 season as a question mark — continued to dominate. After recording 45 strikeouts in the opening-weekend sweep over Sacred Heart and nine more in Tuesday’s win at Winthrop, South Carolina’s arms continued to miss bats.
The quintet of Jackson Soucie (3 IP, 2 Ks), Ryder Garino (3 IP, 5 Ks), Ashton Crowther (1.2 IP, 2 Ks), Parker Marlatt (0.2 IP, 1K) and Roman Kimball (0.2 IP, 0 Ks) combined for 10 strikeouts on a frigid evening.
“I told you we had good depth in our pitching and you can see what I’m talking about,”Mainieri said. “There’s not that Paul Skenes-type guy but we have a lot of really competitive pitchers.”
USC baseball schedule: Upcoming games
- Friday vs. Milwaukee, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Saturday vs. Milwaukee, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Sunday vs. Milwaukee, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Tuesday vs. Gardner-Webb, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Feb. 28: at Clemson, 7 p.m. (ACC Network Extra)
- March 1: vs. Clemson at Greenville, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- March 2: vs. Clemson, 5 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 7:37 PM.
