South Carolina walks off Missouri again, sweeps series

The ball lingered in the South Carolina air for what felt like an eternity Saturday night at Founders Park. 

The ball, off the end of Ty Wilmsmeyer’s bat, floated towards Ethan Petry in right field, each millisecond closer to getting Matthew Becker out of the jam. 

Petry gloved it and the crowd went ballistic as Becker flexed toward the Gamecocks’ dugout after escaping a precarious situation. 

In the moment it felt like a big momentum swing. It proved to be with South Carolina notching yet another comeback victory, walking off Missouri 5-4 to sweep the series. 

[Subscribe to Gamecock Central until Aug. 31 for only $29.99!]

“Pretty special. You get thrown into a tough situation and that happens. I mean, coach (Justin) Parker tells us as a staff we have to go out there prepared to do what you have to do,” Becker said. What I had to do right there is exactly that. I’m glad I had everyone behind me to make that happen.” 

Becker came into a tie game in the tenth inning, minutes after Ethan Petry homered to tie things up. But Becker faced a much different situation with runners on the corners and no outs. 

Facing the middle of Missouri’s order, Becker retired the side on just five pitches with two fly outs and a pop up behind home plate. 

It was the first of three impeccable innings from the Gamecocks’ left-hander that set up those late-inning heroics. 

Becker finished pitching three shutout innings, striking out five of the 12 batters he faced. The lefty pitched around a pair of hits and one walk to steady a game that could have easily gotten away from South Carolina (23-2, 6-0 SEC). 

“He’s the reason we won that game,” Mark Kingston said. “If he doesn’t stabilize that and get the big outs there we don’t win that game. He was tremendous. It was great to see him be that good when he needed to be that good…That’s as good as he’s been. If he can be like that it makes us that much better.” 

[Become an NIL supporter of your South Carolina Gamecocks!]

But the only reason Becker got a chance to pitch was because of Petry in the first place. The Gamecocks’ freshman launched a two-run homer to left field in the eighth to tie the game and force extras before delivering the game-winning hit four innings later. 

Put in big spot after big spot, Petry strode to the plate with the bases loaded in the 12th inning after two walks–one intentionally–and a single and roped a 1-1 pitch up the middle to win the game. 

“It’s incredible. Sometimes it baffles me. You don’t see this every day. I was talking to one of the coaches. I asked when the last time we had a freshman come in here and do this,” said Evan Stone, who homered twice Saturday. “He was like, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.’ Just soak it in. He’s a special guy and a special kid. He’s just going to be incredible.” 

Petry drove in five runs and went 5-for-9 in Saturday’s doubleheader. He’s now hitting .444 on the year and one home run shy of the team lead at 13.

“It’s almost like he’s elevated his play in SEC play,” Kingston said. “I don’t know exactly what his stats are in the six games we’ve played. But I think they’re pretty damn good. Great players get even better on bigger stages. He seems to be that guy so far.”

[Subscribe for free to Gamecock Central’s YouTube page!]

It was a team effort in game three Saturday. The Gamecocks got a workman-like effort from Jack Mahoney, who spent pregame hooked up to an IV battling a stomach virus. 

Mahoney gutted through 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits before turning it over to what was a great bullpen. 

Six South Carolina relievers combined to give up two runs on four hits and struck out 11 over 7.2 innings, headlined by Becker’s heroics. Missouri didn’t score a run the final five innings Saturday night. 

“A lot of guys in the bullpen have settled into roles. It’s good to pass the ball onto someone I know is going to put everything into what they have,” said Noah Hall, who gave up a run in seven innings Saturday afternoon. “I’m very confident in them. We’re confident as a team when they come in.” 

The Gamecocks are now off to their first 6-0 start in league play since 2016 in a season they ultimately won the SEC East.

[Get South Carolina baseball news and analysis via email]

“I’m very proud of that group in that locker room. They played their asses off all day,” Kingston said. “That second game could have gone either way a couple of times and could have gotten away from us. We just kept fighting. Really proud of that group. A lot of heart in that locker room.”

Up next: South Carolina is back in action Tuesday night (7 p.m., ESPN Plus) at The Citadel.

Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!