Looking for sweep, South Carolina baseball gets run-ruled by Ole Miss
South Carolina baseball fell back down to Earth on Saturday.
After a disastrous start to SEC play, the Gamecocks finally delivered progress this week. They beat The Citadel on Tuesday then knocked off Ole Miss on Thursday and Friday to secure its first conference series victory of the year.
All the momentum built, the hope that a disappointing season was turning around, took a hit on Saturday as Ole Miss dominated in a 12-2 run-rule victory in 7 innings. South Carolina (23-18, 4-14 SEC) still hasn’t earned an SEC sweep since last March.
“We’ve dug ourselves such a big hole in the league that a sweep would’ve given us a lot of hope,” said South Carolina coach Paul Mainieri. “You still have a chance to accomplish some things, but obviously, letting one get away from us at home like that was very disappointing.
In halting the Gamecocks’ hot streak, Saturday’s loss further sours South Carolina’s postseason hopes.
Last season, Florida was the last SEC team to make the NCAA Tournament, getting in with a 28-27 record and 13 SEC victories. But the Gators were propelled by a top-30 RPI.
At the moment South Carolina’s RPI is No. 45, though that might jump after taking two of three from the Rebels. Still, let’s use Florida’s 13 SEC victories as a good reference point. For South Carolina to give itself a shot at making the tourney, winning 13 conference games garners real consideration for an at-large berth.
OK, well after this weekend, USC has just four. So between its final 12 SEC regular-season games and the SEC Tournament, the Gamecocks need to rattle off nine victories.
It’s possible, but that’s a tall task — especially when you consider South Carolina’s final four conference series are: at Kentucky, vs. Florida, at No. 8 Auburn and vs. No. 9 LSU.
And South Carolina has provided little proof to this point that it’s capable of even winning any of those remaining conference games. This is a team that’s pitching staff has been decimated with injuries — from Eli Jerzembeck getting Tommy John surgery before the season to Dylan Eskew sustaining an oblique injury from getting hit in the head by a batting practice home run.
And with Eskew still out, now dealing with a back injury, Mainieri threw in Jarvis Evans Jr., who was pulled after allowing six runs and no outs.
“(An MLB manager once said) momentum in baseball is as good as tomorrow’s starting pitcher,” Mainieri said. “I think that was pretty evident today.”
Other guys who were expected to be key to USC’s pitching staff this year — Matthew Becker (6.64 ERA), Jake McCoy (6.44 ERA) and others — have endured struggles. And consider this: Before Brandon Stone tossed an 86-pitch complete game on Thursday, he had only started three games for the Gamecocks.
And aside from Nathan Hall and Ethan Petry, South Carolina has been incredibly disappointing offensively. The struggles really began when the Gamecocks went 4 for 33 (.121) with runners in scoring position against Clemson, but they’ve persisted.
Coming into the Ole Miss series, only Missouri (16) — which is still winless in conference play — had fewer home runs in SEC games than South Carolina and Kentucky (18). The Tigers, too, were the only school with fewer RBIs than the Gamecocks (74).
And then there’s the hard truth that South Carolina has too often found ways to lose games. It was three outs away from a series win over Oklahoma in March before allowing a pair of runs in the ninth and losing in the 10th. A week ago, the Gamecocks were up 10 runs in the sixth inning and managed to lose by three.
It has been a season from hell for South Carolina. If there’s someone or something to blame for that varies by whom you ask, but misfortune always seems to be lurking for this team.
Take the fourth inning, for example. Ole Miss’ Luke Hill hit a chopper to the left side. South Carolina third baseman KJ Scobey charged at the ball, scooped it cleanly and then nothing. No throw. No out. The baseball somehow got stuck inside his glove.
“When it rains, it pours,” Mainieri said.
Upcoming baseball schedule
- Tuesday vs. UNF, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Friday at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Saturday at Kentucky, 4:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Sunday at Kentucky, 1 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published April 19, 2025 at 5:37 PM.
