Pitching, defense carry South Carolina to regional final

Gavin Casas knew to expect it with a left-handed hitter up. The South Carolina first baseman–who maintains he saw the ball rocketed at him by Cannon Peebles–was able to anticipate and glove the hard-hit ground ball. 

As he stepped on the bag and fired to second to gun out Gino Groover for yet another massive double play to preserve a three-run Gamecocks lead, he flexed and let out a guttural yell as the crowd swelled behind him.

That was just one of a handful of elite defensive plays South Carolina made as it pitched and defended itself to a massive 6-3 win over NC State Saturday night.  

“Oh, yeah. I definitely saw it,” Casas said, laughing. “You’re kind of expecting a snap-hook line drive. Luckily it was to the backhand and I caught it and threw it to second. The emotion came out from there.”

[Special: 50% off of GamecockCentral for a year]

South Carolina (41-19) advances to a regional final for the first time since 2018, now one win away from a Super Regional thanks to that defense and an electric start from Jack Mahoney.

After pitching around trouble in the first inning, Mahoney would allow just one base runner over the next four innings while South Carolina’s offense built a six-run lead before hitting trouble in the sixth. 

He looked unhittable for long stretches, retiring 14 of 15 hitters and erasing that lone base runner–a leadoff single in the fourth–with a double play. 

“I think Jack’s a talented guy and very competitive and rises to the occasion. I would agree they battled hard. That’s a good ballclub,” Mark Kingston said. “It was two really good offenses, two really good pitchers that started the game and good, old fashioned baseball.” 

[Get South Carolina baseball news and analysis via email]

He motored through the first two outs with ease before allowing four straight hits–including a two-run double–as part of a three-run Wolfpack inning. 

Those were the only runs he allowed, striking out six and allowing seven hits over six innings with no walks. 

Over his last three starts on normal rest Mahoney now has a 1.89 ERA. South Carolina’s won all three of those games. 

“I think it’s the feeling you work for when no one’s watching, really. Going out there with a full-strength South Carolina team we feel really confident,” Mahoney said. “You can see it with how much fun we’re having right now. The last couple of starts I’ve probably put the emotion beside a lot of it and just executing every single pitch. I’m breathing a lot out there. It’s just a good feeling.” 

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

South Carolina did enough offenisvely to win, putting up all six of its runs with two outs thanks to a Braylen Wimmer two-run homer in the third. The offense then got a four-run inning in the fifth sparked by a Talmadge LeCroy bases-loaded walk and a Gavin Casas two-run double. 

The Wolfpack would threaten multiple times over the final three innings, bringing the tying run to the plate in the seventh and ninth innings but time after time South Carolina would pitch out of it. 

Eli Jones got out of a two-on, one-out jam in the seventh with a double play. Chris Veach worked out of a two-on jam in the ninth for another save. 

“If you’ve ever been on a plane with bad turbulence, you’re saying, ‘Please just land the damn plane.’ That’s what it feels like,” Kingston said. “Really proud of these guys. Still have to win another one tomorrow.”

The Gamecocks are now one win away from a win. They will play either Campbell or NC State Sunday night at 6 p.m. 

“Same routine, same mindset, same approach to go 1-0 tomorrow. You don’t make it any bigger or smaller than that,” Kingston said. “You prepare the same way, take the same batting practice, eat the same food. Show up at the same time and play baseball.” 

[Subscribe for free to GamecockCentral’s YouTube page!]

Up next: South Carolina advances to its first regional championship since 2018. The Gamecocks will play at 6 p.m. Sunday night needing one more win to advance to a Super Regional.

They’ll play the winner of the Campbell and NC State game that starts Sunday at noon. 

Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!