South Carolina baseball rides the wind to top No. 12 Oklahoma, tie weekend series
The flags were whipping on Saturday, a steady northwest wind that brought a new strategy to baseball: Just get the ball in the air.
Get the ball in the air and good things happen. Freshman KJ Scobey learned this early, turning on a pitch and nearly sending it to the parking lot. It was probably a home run on a normal day, but it became a 439-foot bomb, the longest South Carolina home run this season … until Kennedy Jones bested it a few innings later.
On a day when the Soda City was celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, Saturday’s gusts were some much-needed good luck for this Gamecocks as they beat No. 12 Oklahoma 11-5 and tied the weekend series. It was South Carolina’s first SEC win of the season and its first under coach Paul Mainieri.
“We’re trying to earn people’s respect,” Mainieri said. “You have to go out there and earn it. And you earn it by playing well against good teams.”
The conference victory is nice, but Saturday was South Carolina (16-4, 1-1 SEC) finally proving it can come up with clutch hits against formidable teams. In its three losses to Clemson earlier this season, the Gamecocks hit just .121 (4 for 33) with runners in scoring position. In their series-opening loss to Oklahoma on Friday, they left nine guys on base.
South Carolina wasn’t losing because it didn’t get guys on base. It was losing because it couldn’t capitalize on those opportunities.
Which made Saturday’s win over the Sooners (16-2, 1-1 SEC) come with the feeling that there was some good fortune in the air.
“We had some really, really clutch hits today,” Mainieri said. “That allows you to put a crooked number on the board.”
With the bases loaded in the third, Ethan Petry brought home a run. An inning later, Jones’ home run caught the wind and flew 448 feet into the left-center concourse. Dalton Mashore floated a ball into no-man’s land, scoring a pair and giving South Carolina its first lead of the series.
Then the clinic began.
South Carolina scored four more runs in the fifth inning, in part because it kept just hitting the ball in the air. Jones skied what should have been a fly-out, but Oklahoma right fielder Sam Christiansen couldn’t overcome the crosswind and dropped it. A batter later, Jase Wiota hit a long sac fly to left field. Then Jordan Carrion hit an RBI single to left field. And Nathan Hall scored two with a hard-hit ball to left field.
If you couldn’t tell, the wind was blowing out to left field.
This was not South Carolina mashing the ball in some abnormal way. Heck, USC had nearly the same number of hits in both games against Oklahoma, and yet on Saturday, the Gamecocks scored more than twice as many runs as they did Friday. This was South Carolina finally stepping up with runners on base.
“We beat all the teams we were supposed to beat before the SEC, expect for the tough series against Clemson,” Mainieri said. “I don’t think we knew how to win then. And now I think we know how to win.”
It also helped Saturday that USC got a solid outing from starter Jake McCoy. A day after the Gamecocks’ starter, Brandon Stone, gave up four runs in the opening frame, McCoy allowed just four runs all afternoon. The left-hander spent all day getting into trouble … then getting out of trouble, giving up nine hits and three walks while stranding six batters in five innings
“I had to just go out there and fight every single inning,” McCoy said. “But I just powered through.”
The Gamecocks will look for the SEC series win on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., with Dylan Eskew (0-1, 1.69 ERA), taking the mound for USC.
USC baseball schedule: Upcoming games
- Sunday vs. Oklahoma, 2:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Tuesday vs. Charleston at Segra Park, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- March 21 at Arkansas, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- March 22 at Arkansas, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- March 23 at Arkansas, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published March 15, 2025 at 7:26 PM.
