South Carolina baseball drops fifth straight in loss to Charlotte. What we saw

South Carolina baseball had spent the last week spiraling.

The Gamecocks went winless in a four-game road trip, starting with an 8-3 loss at the Citadel and finishing with a 0-3 sweep at the hands of No. 18 Florida in their SEC opener. This came after an already rocky start with six losses before conference play, four of which coming against non-power conference programs.

USC returned home to Founders Park on Tuesday to host Charlotte, hoping to grab yet another bounce-back win and gain some mojo before inviting a top-5 SEC opponent to Columbia this weekend.

Instead, the Gamecocks spiraled even further, losing their fifth-straight game in an 11-8 defeat to the 49ers.

“There was some good things offensively, but we’re going to just need to do a little bit more, especially when the defensive side is like it was tonight,” USC coach Paul Mainieri said after the loss. “Pitching and defense was not very good tonight. Sometimes you’ve got to outscore the other team, and we just weren’t able to do that tonight.”

Much-needed offense, temporarily

USC (12-10, 0-3 SEC) had a disastrous weekend of offense against Florida. The Gamecocks put together seven hits and scored in only one of the 26 innings they played in Gainesville. USC needed an offensive confidence booster, and the 49ers (14-6, 0-0 American) looked like good candidates — the Gamecocks had beaten Charlotte 18-6 in a 12-inning preseason scrimmage Nov. 2.

The Gamecocks got the bats rolling early Tuesday with help from standout freshman Will Craddock. The T.L. Hanna product hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the third. Talmadge LeCroy and KJ Scobey laid down a pair of doubles to tack on a fourth run.

“We knew their pitching style. They threw an awful lot of sliders and breaking balls, pitched backwards. At the beginning, we didn’t do a very good job, and then we did a good job for a couple innings, and then we went back to not being able to handle it again,” Mainieri said.

USC led Charlotte 4-0 and had six hits after the opening three innings. The Gamecocks tacked a fifth run in the fourth and had another multi-run inning in the sixth.

Connor Chicoli pulled early

USC’s lead didn’t last a full inning as Connor Chicoli gave up two runs in the top of the fourth.

Chicoli had been solid to that point, striking out three batters and only letting four reach base in the first three frames. He began to unravel in the fourth, giving up three hits and two runs before being pulled from the game in favor of left-handed reliever Logan Prisco with one out.

Prisco was able to strand two runners in scoring position and escape the fourth without another run. Chicoli finished with four hits, two walks and two earned runs allowed while tossing three strikeouts in 3.1 innings.

“Every inning was like torture for some when we were on defense. A lot of lead-off hitters got on base. They put a lot of pressure on us. They executed at least one, if not two, hit and runs,” Mainieri said. “You give them credit for that, but we gave them opportunities do that by allowing leadoff hitters to get on base. Thirteen free passes, wow, it’s a lot to overcome.”

Riley Goodman makes surprise relief appearance

Redshirt freshman Riley Goodman made a surprise apperance out of the bullpen in the fifth inning. He’d thrown 22 pitches in a blow-up start against the Gators on Sunday. It seemed USC wanted to give him a shot at redemption and some reps as a reliever while junior Alex Philpott — who was expected to start in the weekend rotation before going out with an injury preseason — ramps back up to a regular role with the Gamecocks.

The second-chance outing didn’t go as hoped for Goodman. He walked two batters as he continues to struggle with his control and allowed a run to score on an RBI double. His teammates didn’t do him any favors, as KJ Scobey dropped a routine fly ball and allowed a second runner to score, putting Charlotte within one run.

“It’s no secret that Riley’s been struggling, and we just thought maybe just a little bit different thing tonight, get him out there for one good inning. And unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get through the inning,” Mainieri said. “So we’ll just have to huddle up as a coaching staff and figure out what where to go from here with him.”

Goodman was pulled in the middle of the inning just 25 pitches into his outing in favor of Louisiana-Monroe transfer Josh Gregoire. Charlotte tied the game at 5-5 when Gregoire walked a runner in with the bases loaded. He gave up a grand slam the very next pitch to give the 49ers a 9-5 lead.

Only one of Goodman’s four runs allowed were earned, and eight of Charlotte’s 11 runs on the day were also unearned as the Gamecocks committed five errors. USC pulled within one run in the sixth inning but couldn’t pull back ahead. Charlotte scored its 10th and 11th runs of the game in the eighth and ninth innings and cruised to the finish line.

South Carolina baseball upcoming schedule

• Friday, March 20: vs. No. 4 Arkansas, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
• Saturday, March 21: vs. No. 4 Arkansas, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
• Sunday, March 22: vs. No. 4 Arkansas, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

This story was originally published March 17, 2026 at 7:58 PM.