South Carolina knocks off No. 11 Ole Miss again to earn elusive SEC baseball series win
South Carolina is on a hot streak.
For the first time in over a month, the Gamecocks baseball team has won three in a row after knocking off No. 11 Ole Miss on Friday afternoon at Founders Park. The 7-2 victory also marked USC’s first SEC series win of the year after losing its first five.
A night after starter Brandon Stone became the first Gamecock in years to throw a complete game — hurling an 86-pitch gem — South Carolina (23-17, 4-13 SEC) got another heck of a pitching performance. Starter Jake McCoy gave up a solo home run to the first batter he faced and then shut down the Rebel. Stone allowed just two more hits and only three walks in 6.1 innings.
By the time he exited in the seventh, the Gamecocks were up 5-1.
South Carolina took the lead right away, scoring three runs in the first inning. With two outs, Ethan Petry singled and Jase Woita followed with an RBI single. A number of wild pitches helped each advance with Petry scoring on one and Woita coming home on a fielding error by Ole Miss’ first baseman.
The Gamecocks got some insurance with solo home runs by Nathan Hall (second inning) and Blake Jackson (sixth), which nearly came in handy.
In the eighth, reliever Caleb Jones allowed back-to-back two-out walks and then an RBI single that put the tying run at the plate. The Gamecocks turned to their bullpen, and it took Ashton Crowther only four pitches to induce a fly out and get out of the inning.
With the victory, South Carolina now has a chance at its first SEC sweep since last March, when it took three-straight from No. 3 Vanderbilt.
USC baseball schedule: Upcoming games
- Saturday vs. Ole Miss, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Tuesday vs. UNF, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- April 25 at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- April 26 at Kentucky, 4:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- April 27 at Kentucky, 1 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published April 18, 2025 at 7:02 PM.
