Offense goes stagnant as South Carolina gets shutout by Georgia Southern

Slow bats plagued No. 22 South Carolina (21-8, 5-4 SEC) once again as it fell 8-0 to Georgia Southern on Wednesday. The Gamecocks’ pitching dug a deep hole to climb out of, but the offense struggled to make much contact.

“We just were out of rhythm all night,” Kingston said. “They threw some guys with some pretty good arms but, I’m shocked, I’m shocked that we got shut out tonight with the wind blowing out. Didn’t see it coming. We gotta look at the video, we’ve got to talk to our guys and get them back in rhythm.”

Freshman Eddie Copper got the nod for the midweek start once again. He made it out of the first inning unscathed, giving up one single on a full count.

He ran into trouble at the start of the second inning when he conceded a home run on his second pitch. The next two batters singled and walked, effectively ending Copper’s night.

He ended up only recording three outs while giving up three runs on three hits while striking out one and walking one.

[GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]

Ty Good came in and inherited runners on first and second. He struck out his first two batters in a row, but walked the next. With the bases loaded, Good gave up a grand slam to Georgia Southern’s Sam Blancato, making it a 5-0 deficit.

“Ty’s one of our best guys, he’s one of our best guys,” Kingston said. “He gave up a homer there but he will continue to be one of our best guys, it’s just sometimes they hit your pitch.”

The offense didn’t do much to help the early pitching struggles. The team had just one hit through the first three innings, a double courtesy of Kennedy Jones.

Kingston said it could be attributed to the three days off but didn’t want to make any excuses.

South Carolina seemed to find some relief with junior Dylan Eskew pitching. He made it through two innings and had four strikeouts to accompany the Eagles’ single home run in the top of the fourth.

[On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]

Matthew Backer relieved Eskew and recorded two strikeouts through one inning.

With the pitching settling in, South Carolina’s offense couldn’t get anything going. Through six innings, the team had four hits and were 0-for-6 with runners on base. The Gamecocks wouldn’t pick up another hit the rest of the way, further impacting their struggles.

“We just weren’t good tonight, sometimes it happens,” Kingston said. “We’ve been great in Founders Park all year, and we weren’t tonight. It’s just as simple as that.” 

Connor McCreery took over on the mound for the sixth inning and struck out two batters, then made way for Parker Marlatt in the seventh. Marlatt also got two strikeouts, keeping the relief pitching steady and leaving an opening for the offense.

“We had 17 strikeouts and four walks,” Kingston said. “Again, if you’d told me before the game, with the wind blowing out, we’re going to strike them out 17 times and only walk them four times, I would’ve felt pretty good about what we could expect. It just wasn’t our night.”

South Carolina’s most promising attempt came in the seventh inning when LeCroy worked the team’s first walk of the night. He then advanced to second on a wild pitch and Dylan Brewer earned the walk soon after.

[Newsletters: Get breaking news and analysis from GamecockCentral]

Blake Jackson worked South Carolina’s third walk in a row to load the bases and Dalton Reeves came in to pinch-hit with two outs. But Reeves struck out looking and left those three runners stranded.

Jake McCoy relieved Marlatt and threw two strikeouts in 1.2 innings, allowing just one hit but walking two batters. To round out the pitching, Tyler Dean came in for the final out and inherited men on second and third. Dean hit the first two batters he faced, loading the bases and scoring a runner on the first and another on a wild pitch to end the ninth.

“Credit goes to Georgia Southern, they outplayed us in all the phases tonight,” Kingston said. “We got to flush it, we got to move on, we’ll have a good workout tomorrow and get ready for a really good Texas A&M team.”

Up Next: South Carolina hosts No. 3 Texas A&M (26-3, 6-3 SEC) this weekend for a three-game SEC series. First pitch is set for Friday at 7:00 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.

Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!