Photos: South Carolina continues offensive onslaught

For the second day in a row, the Gamecock offense was firing on all cylinders. After scoring 20 runs Friday, South Carolina scored 17 more Saturday on the way to a 17-1 shellacking of UMass Lowell.

Noah Hall pitched five and a third innings, giving up one earned run on two hits to pick up the win. From there the Gamecock bullpen kept the River Hawks hitless securing the win for Hall. Braylen Wimmer collected five RBIs on two hits including a grand slam in the fourth inning. Will McGillis hit his third home run on the young season while Caleb Denny and Gavin Casas also went deep for the Gamecocks.

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Mark Kingston’s message to his team after South Carolina’s dominant Open Day win was simple. That was a great performance, but can the Gamecocks do it again Saturday? 

They did. 

South Carolina uncorked another 17 runs on UMass Lowell, aided by four more home runs. This time starting pitching was added to the equation for the series win.

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The Gamecocks (2-0), tallied 14 more hits against the River Hawks, striking out nine times with eight walks.

After falling behind by a run in the first, South Carolina scored two in the bottom of the inning and never trailed again. The Gamecocks scored at least two runs in each of the next four innings in the 17-1 win.

A Caleb Denny three-run home helped South Carolina put up a five-spot in the second inning, then the Gamecocks put up two more in the third and four apiece in the fourth and fifth innings.

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Denny–like the rest of South Carolina’s offense–continues to roll. He begins his lone season with the program hitting .500 with three runs driven in so far.  

Braylen Wimmer cranked a grand slam–set up by three really good two-out at-bats–and Gavin Casas and Will McGillis went back-to-back the inning after. 

For Wimmer, he’s now driven in seven over his first two games. McGillis has three home runs in his first seven at-bats. He’s hitting a staggering .778 in nine at-bats with a pair of homers to his name. 

The Gamecocks had four players with multi-RBI days: Wimmer (5), Casas (3), McGillis (2) and Talmadge LeCroy, who roped a bases-loaded double to right field in his first at-bat.

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LeCroy has reached in seven of his eight plate appearances to begin the year. He was a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs scored Saturday. 

This time, too, South Carolina got what it needed from its starting pitching. Noah Hall was electric through most of his 5.1-inning outing. After giving up a run in the first that included a wild pitch, stolen base and RBI double, he settled in nicely. 

The right-hander threw up four innings of scoreless baseball, retiring 12 of 13 batters he faced with a stretch of 10 straight at one point. He didn’t allow a hit over his final five innings of work. 

He finished at 5.1 innings, walking one and hitting two while punching out four. Hall (1-0) hit trouble to start the sixth, hitting a batter and walking another. 

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His day was over after a strikeout. Trey Wheeler got out of the jam with a fielder’s choice and groundout. 

The bullpen was dominant again, stitching together 4.2 innings of perfect baseball. 

Up next: South Carolina goes for the sweep Sunday afternoon. Jack Mahoney making his first start since 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on the SEC Network Plus. 

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