South Carolina baseball drops series clincher against No. 2 Texas. What we saw

Saturday is for all the marbles.

South Carolina baseball fell to No. 2 Texas 5-3 on Friday at Founders Park. The Gamecocks didn’t reach base until the fifth inning but still had a chance to win, ultimately failing to rally and stranding the tying run in scoring position in three consecutive innings. With the series tied 1-1, USC will face Texas in the decider Saturday with the Gamecocks’ first SEC series win of the season on the line.

“I just told the team, the ninth inning is completely my fault. We cannot have our guys going up there afraid to fail,” USC interim coach Monte Lee said. “We’ve got to do a better job of just getting the guys to buy into the fact that, look, you’re going to fail in this ballgame. You’re going to lose ballgames, but you can’t have any fear of losing. You can’t have any fear of failing. And I know the kids care. They competed as hard as they could tonight.”

Here are three key takeaways from Friday’s loss:

Rally not in the cards

USC (15-17, 2-9 SEC) had multiple chances late in the game to plate the tying runner, but the Gamecocks just couldn’t find a way.

Down 3-2 entering the sixth inning, the Gamecocks stranded the tying run in scoring position in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. KJ Scobey was at the center of the failed rally as he represented the third out in the sixth and eighth innings. He went 0 for 4 at the plate with three strikeouts Friday.

The Gamecocks had three outs to make up a three-run deficit in the ninth inning after Texas (25-5, 8-3 SEC) put up two insurance runs in the top half of the inning. Patrick Evans cut the lead down to 5-3 with a solo home run, but the Gamecocks couldn’t muster any additional runs and fell short of Texas.

“It’s not necessarily about coming up with a clutch hit or winning the game. You can’t worry about what’s going to happen in the game. Just get up there and be aggressive, especially when you get those opportunities,” Lee said.

Brandon Stone buckles down

Josh Gunther made his usual Friday start for USC against the Longhorns, but his outing lasted just 1.1 innings.

The junior right-hander struggled to find his command once again, adding two walks to his 15 total entering the weekend. He gave up three hits and two earned runs — a third run was scored on a batter Gunther allowed to reach base with his own throwing error. Lee decided to swap Gunther for Brandon Stone one out into the second inning.

“I hate it for (Gunther) … I actually thought he had better command today,” Lee said. “I just decided, early in the game, I’m not gonna put us in a position to give up a big inning.”

Stone has been a weekend rotation regular for the Gamecocks, but was left out of the lineup on short rest after throwing 79 pitches against Georgia on March 29.

The junior righty hunkered down for the Gamecocks. He finished the game, pitching seven shutout innings and tossing six strikeouts. The lone blemishes came about as late as they could, when he gave up back-to-back solo home runs in the top of the ninth and gave Texas a 5-2 lead.

“I threw a lot of different pitches in the zone, pounded the zone, making them trying to hit what I can throw,” Stone said. “At the end, I lost steam. Both kids made a couple good swings. They hit good pitches. They did their thing.”

Early struggles at the plate

After putting up nine runs the night before, USC came out sluggish at the plate Friday.

Texas left-handed pitcher Luke Harrison, who entered the game with a 3-0 record and a 2.65 ERA, dominated the Gamecocks early on. He retired the first 12 batters he faced and struck out three batters in four innings. USC worked its way into a full count in only one at-bat during that stretch.

“I think it was really more about the stuff he was throwing. … He’s getting in 3-2 counts, and he’s throwing a curveball for a strike in a 3-2 count,” Lee said. “He just had that level of confidence in his stuff. Tells you a little bit about him and the outing he had today.”

Things began to pick up in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Gamecocks got deeper into their plate appearances. Fifth-year catcher Talmadge LeCroy worked into a 3-2 count before taking the leadoff walk. Senior outfielder Luke Yuhasz hit a home run two at-bats later to make it a one-run game.

USC walked again in the fifth but couldn’t add any more runs, and Texas led 3-2. Harrison was pulled the next inning and finished with five strikeouts, two walks, one hit and two runs allowed in 5.2 innings pitched.

South Carolina baseball schedule

• Saturday: vs. Texas, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
• Tuesday, April 7: vs. Charleston, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
• Thursday, April 9: at Missouri, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
• Friday, April 10: at Missouri, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
• Saturday, April 11: at Missouri, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

This story was originally published April 3, 2026 at 10:34 PM.