South Carolina drops series-deciding game to No. 2 Texas. What we saw

Two days in a row, South Carolina baseball had its chances to take the series against Texas. Two days in a row, the Gamecocks fell short.

USC lost 4-1 Saturday to the No. 2-ranked Longhorns at Founders Park. The Gamecocks started sluggish, recording outs on 12 consecutive at-bats to start the game, and failed to rally one night after Friday’s 5-3 loss where USC stranded the tying runner in scoring position in three straight innings.

South Carolina is still hunting its first SEC series win of the 2026 season and its first since April 18, 2025 against Ole Miss.

“Certainly disappointed that we couldn’t find a way, offensively, to support our pitching staff,” USC interim coach Monte Lee said. “We’ve just got to find a way. We had some opportunities. ... Ultimately, we just couldn’t find enough ways to score runs.”

Here are three key takeaways from the loss:

Texas edges out early pitchers duel

The Gamecocks (15-18, 2-10 SEC) and the Longhorns (26-5, 9-3 SEC) both had some of their best pitching still available for Saturday’s rubber match.

USC went with Amp Phillips on the mound, while Texas gave the nod to reigning SEC Freshman of the Year Dylan Volantis. Both pitchers came into the game with a sub-3.00 ERA and opponent batting averages below .250.

Phillips was solid for the Gamecocks, pitching 4.2 innings with eight strikeouts and three runs allowed. He was hurt by his four walks allowed and a handful of defensive mishaps — only one of the three runs was earned. Phillips was swapped out for Logan Prisco for a lefty-lefty matchup midway through the fifth inning.

“We didn’t help him,” Lee said.

Texas led 3-0 after the top of the fifth.

Volantis was dominant against the Gamecocks, continuing the trend of USC struggling against Texas’ left-handed pitchers. Like Friday night starter Luke Harrison, Volantis retired the first 12 pitchers he faced.

“I thought Harrison and Volantis, both, were really, really good,” Lee said. “They just did not really give us anything. They just pitched really well. ... That’s part of playing in this league. You’ve got to find a way to be more effective.”

The sophomore was pulled in the sixth inning after giving up a single his third time through the order. He finished allowing one hit, one run and one walk while tossing six strikeouts.

“That’s about as good a pitching staff as, I think, we’ve seen so far,” Lee said. “But we still got to find a way, cause our pitching staff is giving us a chance.”

Talmadge LeCroy starts rally, can’t finish it

Fifth-year catcher Talmadge LeCroy was the first USC player to reach base on Friday with a walk. On Saturday, he broke the Gamecocks’ stalemate again, this time in much louder fashion.

LeCroy hit a solo home-run in the top of the fifth to put the Gamecocks on the board. Then, in the sixth inning, he returned to the plate with bases loaded and two outs. Volantis had been pulled from the game just two batters earlier, and LeCroy had a chance to at least bring the game within one run, if not put the Gamecocks out in front.

Instead, he struck out swinging and stranded the bases loaded, effectively cutting short the rally he helped spark in the previous inning. LeCroy finished 1 for 3 at the plate, striking out twice.

“We had had some opportunities if we do a better job of just staying in the strike zone,” Lee said. “I thought we chased a little bit out of strike zone.”

No answers at the plate

Even for a down day offensively, USC fell flat in crunch time.

In the final three innings of the game, the Gamecocks struck out eight times, three times looking, and only reached base once. That only happened because Will Craddock was hit by a pitch. USC failed to reach base in five of nine innings played Saturday.

The Gamecocks struck out three times in a row in the bottom of the ninth.

“We certainly are not there. We need to continue to work to get there. We certainly have some evidence that we can score runs,” Lee said. “It’s just trying to get guys to really buy into the process. ... You just have to constantly keep reminding them of that. But you also have to think about it from a hitter’s perspective, it’s frustrating. They go up there. They want to do well, so they tend to be aggressive when things aren’t going quite the way they want them.”

That message was a change from Lee’s rally cry after Friday’s loss where he said he wanted to see his players be more aggressive and less afraid of failure late in games.

USC’s relievers were a small bright spot late in the game. Logan Prisco, Zach Russell and Cooper Parks combined for 4.1 innings of one-run ball, giving the Gamecocks a chance they just couldn’t capitalize on. The trio combined for seven strikeouts, one walk and four hits allowed in their outings.

“We’ll get there because we have been there,” Lee said.

South Carolina baseball upcoming schedule

• Tuesday: 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 4, 2026 at 5:18 PM.