USC baseball finishes midweek unscathed with win over Gardner-Webb

After a trip to Spartanburg the night before, South Carolina returned to Founders Park to host its first home midweek contest of the year on Wednesday night, hoping to avoid any hiccups or further fatigue issues.

When USC lost to Northern Kentucky on Feb. 14, Gamecock coach Paul Mainieri said his team was tired from a doubleheader sweep the day before. After taking down Wofford on Tuesday, Mainieri said there would be no excuses.

“I told them, ‘We’re gonna enjoy this drive home, and then we’re gonna turn the page,’” Maineiri said after Tuesday’s win. “I’m not making excuses for them anymore.“

No excuses would be needed, and USC even got to go home early on Wednesday.

The Gamecocks welcomed Gardner-Webb to Columbia and were able to come away with the 12-2 run-rule win to finish their first midweek stretch of the year unscathed. USC is now 4-1 to start 2026.

“We acted pretty tired after the games on opening day,” Mainieri said. “I challenged them to be ready to go.”

Here’s what we saw in the win:

Starter struggles

Virginia transfer Bradley Hodges made his first start of the season on Wednesday. Once named by Mainieri at preseason media day as one of five candidates for a weekend starting job, Hodges didn’t end up breaking into the rotation and instead waited for the midweek game to make his debut.

It didn’t go as hoped for Hodges, who was pulled midway through the third inning after loading the bases without a hit. Zach Russell took over for Hodges out of the bullpen and ended the frame, but not before allowing two runners to score on an infield single.

Hodges’ shaky start on the mound didn’t carry over to the rest of USC’s staff. Russell, along with Josh Gregoire, Hudson Lee and Patrick Dudley held the Bulldogs scoreless the rest of the way and combined for eight strikeouts.

“I think what gives us confidence, honestly, is our pitching,” USC transfer infielder Patrick Evans said. “As long as our pitching can hold them like they have been, they’ve been great, we’ve just got to stick to our approach.”

Will Craddock shows early power

Freshman infielder and T.L. Hanna product Will Craddock made his debut for the Gamecocks on Wednesday night. He was slotted in at first base, and by the time the night was over, he made a case to end up in the same spot this weekend against Army, Navy and Air Force.

Craddock turned heads from first contact, hitting a single 110 mph to eliminate any possibility of a play being made. He hit a triple 108 mph later in the game.

“It was fun. Off the bat, I knew I hit it well, and then just picked up coach Hendry when I rounded second base, and he sent me. So it was a cool moment,” Craddock said.

He finished 3-for-3 at the plate, drew two walks and accounted for four runs.

“I love me some Will Craddock,” Mainieri said. “He’s got all the qualities. I’ve been around a lot of great players in my coaching career, and I think Will’s got a chance to be a really, really outstanding one. Just got to figure out where to play him. We got to find a way to get him into the lineup, because he makes an impact on the ball game.”

Talmadge LeCroy stays hot

It wasn’t just the freshman Craddock who was hot at the plate Wednesday. USC’s elder statesman, fifth-year catcher Talmadge LeCroy, has had a promising start to what should be his final collegiate campaign after missing most of 2025 recovering from surgery.

Entering Wednesday’s game, LeCroy was batting .333 with three RBI. He went 2-for-5 at the plate with a solo-shot home run against the Terriers the night before, and kept it rolling against the Bulldogs.

LeCroy went 3-for-4 Wednesday night with one RBI.

It was an overall solid night down the order for USC. Seven hitters finished with at least one hit and one RBI. Wofford transfer Tyler Bak hit a solo home run. Purdue transfer Logan Sutter hit the walk-off, 2-run home run in the eighth inning to finish off the victory half an inning early.

“There are advantages to being old like me. You’ve seen it all, and I don’t panic, because I’ve had a lot of teams through the years that didn’t hit great the opening weekend of the season,” Mainieri said. “I thought we’d go out the next day (after the season opener) and just be loosey-goosey and let it rip, and it just didn’t happen for us. We just had a really poor day at the plate. ... I’m not trying to make more out of these last two days, you know? I mean, obviously they weren’t SEC games, but it was a lot of good stuff to build upon.”

South Carolina baseball upcoming schedule

• Friday, Feb. 20: vs. Army, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
• Saturday, Feb. 21: vs. Navy, 1 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
• Sunday, Feb. 22: vs. Air Force, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)