Bats break out for 14 runs as South Carolina sweeps Milwaukee

South Carolina has been hitting the ball as hard as any team to begin this season. That hasn’t been the problem, though; the balls have seemingly been hit everywhere a defender has been.

Somebody had even told head coach Paul Mainieri before Saturday’s game that his team had the fourth-most hard hit outs. The weather hasn’t helped much, with some chillier-than-normal temperatures this month.

But on a sunny afternoon and temperatures in the high 50s, the balls finally started finding holes. With Mainieri putting out a much different-looking lineup, the Gamecocks (8-0) came to life and earned a 14-4 run-rule win to complete a sweep of Milwaukee on Sunday.

“Baseball is a tough sport, and the toughest part of the sport is hitting,” Mainieri said. “… The important thing was for the kids to take an aggressive approach and not lose their confidence. I felt all along that we had a good lineup and that the hitting would come eventually.”

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Right from the jump, South Carolina came out swinging as Blake Jackson and Ethan Petry hit back-to-back RBI doubles in a three-run first inning. Petry kept his great start to the year going as he went 2-for-3 with two doubles and brought home another run.

“I feel like we were really aggressive, having a great approach,” said Will Tippett, who went 4-for-5 with an RBI double. “We were hitting the balls all over the place, especially in the first inning. We were just on the attack, ready to rock and roll.”

Through the first seven games, the Gamecocks had only hit five home runs, two of which were by Petry. On warmer days, they would probably have a few more to add. But they were able to see a few leave the yard on Sunday.

In the third, Nolan Nawrocki hit his first homer as a Gamecock, a solo shot that traveled 425 feet at 107 miles per hour. Then in the sixth, Ryan Bakes, who got the start at catcher, went deep with a two-run homer into left centerfield.

“The home run swing, it was good,” Bakes said after going 1-for-3 with three RBI. “The swings previously, I knew I was out in front a little bit. I talked to Monte (Lee) and he told me to stay back on it, so I did that.”

Eight of the nine starters recorded at least one hit, three of whom had multi-hit games. South Carolina also finished with five doubles and 13 hits.

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On the mound, Jake McCoy wasn’t perfect as he dealt with some early command issues. He only made one mistake when he gave up a three-run homer in the second after putting two runners aboard.

The left-hander also walked three and hit two more with pitches running inside. But he finished with eight strikeouts and went four innings in his second start of the year.

“I took him out of the game because of pitch count,” Mainieri said. “He gave up the three-homer in the second inning and then the rest of the inning he dominated. But the other three innings, he’d get the first two guys out and then let a guy get on base. So that drove his pitch count up.”

Mainieri mentioned he’ll “probably” need McCoy to pitch on one day of less rest for his next start against Clemson. He hasn’t ruled out Dylan Eskew, who has a mild strain in his rhomboid, but Mainieri plans to give him a few extra days to get ready for his next outing.

Once again, the bullpen did its part in shutting down Milwaukee’s lineup after McCoy came out of the game. It helped the Gamecocks had a five-run cushion to work with entering the fifth. Even still, Ashton Crowther pitched two shutout innings and struck out three without a walk.

After South Carolina further extended its lead to nine, Mainieri began to empty his bullpen with arms that hadn’t thrown yet. Cooper Parks made his college debut and worked through a scoreless seventh before giving up a homer and walk in the eighth. Aydin Palmer came in and got out of trouble as he walked one and then struck out the next three.

Up next: South Carolina will host Gardner-Webb in a midweek matchup on Tuesday. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.

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