South Carolina earns drama-free win, run-rules The Citadel

After a pair of dramatic finishes over the weekend, South Carolina enjoyed a drama-free win Tuesday night. 

The Gamecocks pushed their winning streak to four with a 13-2 run-rule drubbing at The Citadel, sweeping the season series against the Bulldogs. 

“We challenged them after what happened last Tuesday. We said this can’t be a trap game for us and we need to come out and play great baseball,” Mark Kingston said. “We’re playing in a town with a lot of Gamecock fans. There are going to be a lot of people who come out to watch you. So we need to come out and play great baseball…I’m really proud that the guys did that.”

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

They did thanks to a bunch of damage over the middle innings. They’d score in three of four innings starting in the third. 

South Carolina (24-2, 6-0 SEC) plated four in the third, headlined by a 396-foot, two-run bomb from Caleb Denny. Denny, who entered with his average down at .237, certainly could use something like that. 

He’d finish his day with the lone hit but did walk twice. 

South Carolina got two more in the fourth thanks to a two-run double from Jonathan French before exploding in the sixth for seven runs. 

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

It started with a two-run double from Evan Stone–his third extra-base hit in three games. Braylen Wimmer followed it up with an RBI single plating a pair. 

Gavin Casas put the final nail in the coffin with two runners on base, crushing a 386-foot home run at 105 off the bat. It’s his team-leading 14th of the season, two up on the next closest (Ethan Petry). 

All nine of the Gamecocks’ starters reached base Tuesday with eight picking up hits. Seven drove in runs.

“It’s everybody. You saw Evan Stone hit two homers in one game. I don’t mean to be mean to Evan but he hasn’t been the hottest hitter,” said Cole Messina, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a RBI. “It’s good to see everyone picking up when they need to and figuring out ways to win.” 

It was enough for South Carolina to piecemeal things together with its pitching staff. 

Six different pitchers threw for the Gamecocks. None threw more than an inning, allowing just two runs on four hits while striking out 11 to just two walks.

“That shows the depth we have,” Kingston said. “On a Tuesday night you don’t want to use a lot of guys who’ve been pitching a lot of innings we can still come out and give up two runs on four hits.” 

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

The only pitchers who allowed a run were starter Sam Simpson, which came around to score on a stolen base, and Jackson Phipps, which scored on a dropped fly ball to centerfield. 

Simpson and Zac Zedalis were the first two pitchers in the game for South Carolina, both making their second appearances off Tommy John surgery.

They combined to throw two innings, giving up one run on one hit with three punch-outs.

“Between having to play the doubleheader on Saturday and the short week starting on Thursday we needed guys to step up for us tonight and they all did that,” Kingston said. “Just a really good night to see the guys get out there and their feet wet.” 

South Carolina’s now on a four-game winning streak heading to Starkville to play Mississippi State. The Gamecocks have won 16 of their last 17 games since losing to Clemson on the road at the beginning of March. 

[Get South Carolina baseball news and analysis via email]

It’s also the Gamecocks’ fourth run-rule win of the season and first on the midweek. South Carolina is now 17-2 in the non-conference. The losses came at Clemson and at a neutral site against Charlotte last week. 

“Gamecock fans love a great, winning baseball team and that’s what we have right now,” Kingston said. “We know (Charleston) is fertile ground for Gamecock fans. So we appreciate everyone who came out tonight.” 

Up next: SEC play continues. South Carolina traveling to Mississippi State for a three-game series beginning Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. 

Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!