Arkansas drops 22 runs on South Carolina baseball in run-rule win. 3 key takeaways

Only three weeks into March, and it seemed as though South Carolina baseball’s season was already on the verge of hopelessness.

USC entered its second weekend of SEC play with a 12-10 record, five losses to non-power conference programs, well behind the pace of a frustrating 28-29 season in 2025. As bad as last year was, the Gamecocks were 17-5 at the same point in the season and didn’t lose to a mid-major opponent all year.

This weekend’s series against No. 4 Arkansas looked pivotal. Stealing some wins could turn USC’s entire season around, but a sweep could send USC plummeting toward rock bottom.

Friday’s series opener didn’t do much to inspire hope.

The Gamecocks were run-ruled, falling 22-6 to the Razorbacks in seven innings. The 16-run margin of defeat wasn’t quite USC’s worst-ever SEC loss — the Gamecocks fell to Arkansas by 23 runs, 30-7, in 1997.

Arkansas’ 21 runs were the most allowed by USC since it gave up 24 runs to Auburn in a 24-2, run-rule loss last season on the road. It’s the most runs given up in a home game since the Gamecocks allowed 22 runs to Florida, also during the 2025 season.

Friday’s loss was the third time an SEC opponent scored 20-plus runs against USC in the last 14 conference matchups.

“We made it tough on ourselves,” USC coach Paul Mainieri said after the loss. “You’re going to give up some home runs. You just can’t walk batters in front of the home runs. And that’s what we did tonight.”

Not Josh Gunther’s best day

A week following Josh Gunther’s six-inning, no-hit outing against No. 18 Florida, Mainieri said he didn’t want to manage expectations for his Friday starter.

If a repeat of last week’s outing was the expectation for Friday’s series opener, then the junior right-hander didn’t quite meet the bar.

Gunther struggled from the jump against Arkansas (17-6, 3-1 SEC), walking two batters in the first inning as he couldn’t quite get a grasp of his command. He gave an up RBI single and a three-run home run in the opening frame to give the Razorbacks an early 4-0 lead. Gunther gave up two more home runs in the second inning.

“He was trying to be so cute. What I mean by cute is just be so perfect with his pitches, and didn’t really attack the way that he attacked the Florida hitters last weekend, and he fell behind in counts, and then he had to throw them in there,” Mainieri said. “They have a very good hitting team. It was just really a tough outing for him, and I feel for him, because he’s a really good pitcher. He just had a tough outing tonight.”

Despite Gunther’s poor start, Mainieri kept starter out there for the third inning as USC (12-11, 0-4 SEC) — which already trailed 7-0 — tried to save its pitchers for the rest of the weekend.

USC pitching coach Terry Rooney went out the mound and relieved Gunther’s of his duties in the third inning after he allowed his fourth home run of the day. Left-handed reliever Bradley Hodges made his second appearance of the season in relief.

Arkansas led 9-0 after three innings. Hodges loaded the bases in the fourth and walked in the 10th run. Arkansas tacked on seven more runs in the inning against Parker Marlatt and Bryce Navarre. The game rolled through seven innings and was cut short thanks to the run rule.

Bats cold to start SEC play

What has remained a constant for USC to start conference play is the lack of offensive production.

The Gamecocks struggled against Arkansas starter Gabe Gaeckle on Friday. USC struck out five times in the first three innings and were retired in order twice. Even when USC made contact, the ball just wouldn’t fall, highlighted by a diving grab by Arkansas centerfielder Maika Niu to save an extra-bases hit.

The Razorbacks held USC scoreless in five of the seven innings on Friday. The lone runs for the Gamecocks came on a trio of two-run home runs in the fourth and seventh innings. The Gamecocks have scored in only three of 33 innings played to start SEC play.

“We got off to a bad start, but I was really proud of the guys at the end, the way we kept swinging the bats and hit a few home runs and had some good swings, and hopefully we’ll carry that into tomorrow,” Mainieri said.

What now?

Without a solid start from Gunther to lean on and no sign of offense, the road to a series win or even avoiding the sweep will be difficult for the Gamecocks.

USC will hope for another shutout outing from Saturday’s starting pitcher Amp Phillips as the Gamecocks try to get anything going at the plate. The Gamecocks still have Brandon Stone and Alex Valentin available out of the bullpen. Sunday’s starter has yet to be announced, but Mainieri suggested Florida transfer Alex Philpott could make his weekend debut if he’s fully recovered from an illness.

Mainieri held a quick team huddle in the dugout postgame, and his message was simple: The weekend isn’t over.

“It’s one game. They have an excellent team, of course,” Mainieri said. “We had some good swings, and we didn’t give up, and we kept battling and hit some balls hard and hit three home runs. But you know, When you have a tough day on the mound like we did, it’s gonna be hard to win the game.”

The Gamecocks must avoid a sweep to keep any remaining hope from washing away this season. USC has started 0-5 in SEC play only once during its inaugural season as a member in 1992, and the program has never started 0-6 in the SEC.

South Carolina baseball upcoming schedule

• Saturday, March 21: vs. Arkansas, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
• Sunday, March 22: vs. Arkansas, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
• Tuesday, March 24: vs. North Carolina (Charlotte, NC), 6:30 p.m. (ACC Network Extra)

This story was originally published March 20, 2026 at 10:08 PM.