South Carolina dominates Georgia to sweep doubleheader, win series

A few minutes after South Carolina dramatically took game one over Georgia, Mark Kingston went up to Noah Hall and challenged him.

Facing a Georgia pitcher with gaudy numbers, Kingston knew the Gamecocks would need a strong outing from statistically their best starter.

“I told him that we got game one, but now you’re facing maybe statistically the best pitcher in the country,” Kingston said. “You need to go blow for blow with him and try to be better than he is.”

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Hall responded exactly the way South Carolina needed him to, dominating in a complete game while the Gamecocks rocked Georgia’s Liam Sullivan in a 12-2 run-rule victory.

The Gamecocks (19-1, 2-0 SEC) win the series after sweeping Saturday’s doubleheader, the first time they’ve won the first league series of the season since 2017. 

It’s also the first time South Carolina’s won back-to-back series at Georgia since doing it in 2000 and 2002. It’s also the first road series win since winning at Kentucky in 2021.

“It feels really good,” Hall (4-0, 2.58 ERA) said. “It’s my first SEC road win since I’ve been in college, which is pretty lit. And we did it as a team, which is even crazier and better for us.” 

Things got off to a rough start for Hall, who gave up a homer to lead off the second inning, but he settled in nicely after that.

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Hall sliced and diced his way through an ever-dangerous Georgia lineup, retiring nine of the next 10 batters over the course of three innings. The lone hit came on a one-out single quickly erased thanks to a pop-up and ground out. 

He looked elite, giving up just one run over the final five innings. He ultimately scattered seven hits and struck out five to no walks. And it was enough for South Carolina’s offense to get to work. 

“That was the plan from me and coach (Justin) Parker: stay in attack mode the whole time,” he said. “Stay in the zone and compete. That’s what the SEC is all about.”

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Meanwhile, the Gamecocks peppered Sullivan, who came into Saturday having allowed just one earned run on six hits in 20.1 innings this year.

South Carolina tagged him for four runs, all earned, in the third inning thanks to a game-tying double from Braylen Wimmer and a go-ahead, two-run home run from Ethan Petry.

Sullivan’s pitch count was over 60 through three innings and he only recorded one out in the fourth after giving up a pair of singles and a sac bunt. 

The Gamecocks finished getting five runs off him with six hits and a pair of walks. 

“It’s great because we can see what we can do against a good pitcher. Even the first pitcher, you have to give credit to Jaden Woods. He struck out 12 or 13 guys and he was elite,” Petry said. “He had an elite fastball and his stuff was amazing. And we battled our butts off. With Sullivan, we battled him. We got him out early.”

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They’d do even more damage in the fifth, sending 12 to the plate and getting seven runs on five hits and three walks. Petry headlined it with a three-run blast, his second of the game and third on the day.

Petry–getting his first taste of SEC pitching–went 5-for-8 with three homers and six RBI.

“Let’s not make him Babe Ruth yet. He had a great day today and there are still parts of the game we need to get him better at,” Kingston said. “But it’s really impressive to see a freshman in his first SEC series do what he did today. I’m very pleased.” 

The Gamecocks walked seven times in game two Saturday, working good at-bats up and down the order. Eight of South Carolina’s nine starters picked up a hit in game two with four having multi-hit days. All nine reached base at least once.

“It’s been contagious all season. There’s been straight domination by our offense. We’re taking pitches out of the zone, frustrating pitchers. It’s been a terror. Everyone’s a nightmare on our offense,” Petry said.

“We’re coming into this season, and our 3-4-5 right now might be one of the best in the nation. It’s nerve-wracking to face our 3-4-5 right now.”

Up next: South Carolina goes for the sweep Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Jack Mahoney will start with the game on SEC Network.

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