Gamecocks snap losing streak with run-rule win over Presbyterian
After Sunday’s loss to No. 1 Tennessee pushed the Gamecocks’ losing streak to seven games, South Carolina baseball coach Paul Mainieri declared that Tuesday night’s midweek game against Presbyterian would be treated like “it’s the seventh game in the World Series. Whatever it takes to win we need to win a baseball game.”
It wasn’t pretty at times, but the losing streak is over after an 11-1 run-rule victory over the Blue Hose at Founders Park.
Now it’s time for South Carolina to refocus and turn their attention to getting on track in SEC play this coming weekend on the road against Mississippi State.
“It’s nice to win a game. I guess that’s the understatement of the day,” Mainieri said. “There were several good things tonight. Several clutch hits and balls hit hard with runners in scoring position. Bottom line, it was just good to win a game and get ready to go to Starkville.”
The Gamecocks (18-12, 1-8 in the SEC) have faced one of the toughest schedules in the country. They were swept the last two weekends by the No. 2 and No. 1 teams in the country in the latest DIBaseball poll, Arkansas and Tennessee. They also were swept in an earlier series against No. 6 Clemson and went 1-2 against No. 10 Oklahoma. Add in a midweek loss to No. 19 North Carolina last Tuesday and the schedule hasn’t been for the faint of heart.
“We’ve had some adversity, but I feel like every good team will eventually deal with some adversity, but the past is in the past,” junior Nathan Hall said. “The next most important game is Mississippi State. We know we’re a good team and we got better in that stretch in the past.”
Mainieri is hoping to turn the recent rough stretch into something different over the next several weeks.
“When you’re in the trenches with the kids, you have to dwell on some of the positive things to keep their spirits up,” Mainieri said. “It does us no good to just beat them up and tell them they aren’t any good. They hear that enough from the outside noise.
“Hopefully this month will be a lot better. I’ve said it many times before: I want us to be a better team in April than in March and a better team in May than in April.”
South Carolina held a 2-1 lead going to the bottom of the sixth Tuesday thanks to a two-run home run from Ethan Petry, his eighth of the season and 52nd of his career. He’s 10 away from tying Justin Smoak for the most in school history.
It was a five-run outburst with two outs in the sixth inning that turned a tight game into a snoozer.
Petry and KJ Scobey opened the inning with consecutive singles before Beau Hollins sacrificed them over. After a grounder back to the pitcher recorded the second out, the Gamecocks went to work.
Gavin Braland laced a two-run single off the mound. Jase Woita walked with the bases loaded, and Hall added a two-run single to left to put up that much-needed crooked number on the scoreboard.
“Braland came through with the big two-run single, which I think was really the key at-bat,” Mainieri said. “It was two strikes and two outs, and he got the base hit up the middle.”
The Gamecocks ended it with another crooked number in the seventh thanks to two Blue Hose errors with two outs and the bases loaded. A misplay on a pop-up from Woita scored two runs, and the game ended on a throwing error on a Hall grounder to third.
USC baseball schedule: Upcoming games
- April 4 at Mississippi State, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- April 5 at Mississippi State, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- April 6 at Mississippi State, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- April 8 vs. USC Upstate, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- April 10 at Texas A&M, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
- April 11 at Texas A&M, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- April 12 at Texas A&M, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 9:43 PM.