South Carolina drops fifth straight despite strong start from Eli Jones

It might have looked a lot better than last weekend, but the result for South Caroilna stayed the same.

The Gamecocks looked much more competitive against No. 3 Arkansas in a hostile environment but it was ultimately the team’s fifth-straight loss, a nip-and-tuck 4-1 defeat at Arkansas.

“It felt like us out there tonight, it did. It was two really good teams. It’s a 4-1 ballgame. I told the guys that felt like an Omaha game,” Mark Kingston said. “Those were two top-five teams with elite pitching on both sides, elite defense on both sides. They just drove in a couple more runs tonight.” 

It’s undoubtedly frustrating for South Carolina, which couldn’t capitalize on one of its best starting pitching performances in recent weeks.

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Injuries forced South Carolina (36-13, 14-10 SEC) to shake up its rotation, thrusting sophomore Eli Jones into his second-ever SEC start in what is a hostile environment. 

The Gamecocks’ right-hander looked up for the moment. Jones struck out a career-high 10 over six-plus innings. He’d be credited with just two runs given up, an RBI single in the third and in the sixth when he ran out of gas. 

“We had a pretty good plan going into it. I executed my pitches, stayed around the zone, used my sinker for strikes and got a lot of swings and misses,” Jones said. “It was working pretty well tonight.” 

He looked every bit like a Friday night arm in the SEC, piling up strikeout after strikeout and scattering four hits over five-plus innings before being pulled after a walk. He’d walk just two while looking in complete control for most of the game. 

“Eli was very, very good. He gave us the kind of start we expect to get on a Friday night,” “he looked composed, he had command of all his pitches and he gave us a chance to win against a really good ball club.” 

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But it was leadoff walks that doomed South Carolina in the middle innings that ultimately led to the loss.

Jones walked the leadoff guy in the sixth that ultimately came around to score and break a tie. Cade Austin then walked two and gave up a single in the seventh while Arkansas delivered a two-run single after that.

“You have to throw strikes. we walked five guys tonight and they walked three. That’s a littel bit of a difference in the ballgame,” Kingston said. “You can’t walk leadoff hitters. We all know that. It’s as old as the game. It cost us.” 

The offense struggled with runners on base, going just 2-for-15 with men on while hitting 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position. The lone hit with RISP came from Braylen Wimmer, who was also back in the lineup after two weeks off.

The Gamecocks also struck out 11 times against the Razorbacks’ two best pitchers in Hagen Smith and Gage Wood.

“I think we took better at-bats throughout the lineup today. Wimmer had the big RBI hit. The more we get those guys back we’re going to take the kind of at-bats we expect one through nine,” Kingston said.

“But you have to tip your cap. Those guys have been winning games for them all year. They were really good at home tonight.” 

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While it looked better, the result stayed the same in a hostile environment.

South Carolina is now 3-7 in its last 10 games and needs to now win two straight games to avoid a third-straight series loss and fourth in the last five weekends.

“(Not thinking about it) is definitely easier said than done. It’s the best conference in the country. Tonight, I planned on going out there and giving the team a spark. I thought we were in a better mindset tonight definitely,” Jones said.

“I think the mojo’s back a little bit. It’s the SEC. it’s still a hard game to win, no matter if you’re playing good or playing bad.” 

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Up next: Game two of the series starts Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET. Neither team has named a starter to this point.

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