South Carolina rides quartet of homers to midweek win

Right away, Will McGillis knew it was gone. The only questions were how far and fast did he hit it.

As he looked toward left field, he tossed his bat into the air with a slight pep in his step. The ball kept traveling and traveling, landing about five rows up into the bleachers. It was a 383 foot, 108 MPH homer that gave South Carolina a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

McGillis’ sixth homer of the year would be enough run support for the Gamecocks (12-1). They went on to defeat The Citadel 8-1 Tuesday night at Founders Park.

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Before McGillis stepped up to the plate and homered, Ethan Petry got the offense going with a solo shot of his own. He homered into the Gamecocks bullpen to start the scoring in the second inning.

“All I’m trying to do is just contribute to the team,” Petry said. “Confidence is everything for me but whatever I got to do to contribute to the team. Just a hit a sac fly, sac bunt or whatever you need.”

The pair of long balls would be enough of a cushion for right-hander Eli Jones. In his first start of the season, he pitched five innings, giving up just one run.

Jones did work himself into trouble in the first, loading the bases, but managed to strike out Citadel’s Noah Mitchell to end the threat. After that, he was in complete control.

“I thought that was a key moment in that game, as early as it was,” Mark Kingston said. Him getting out of the first inning, bases loaded without giving up any runs, I thought that was key. How he handled it was exactly what we preached to our guys is you don’t want to panic in that moment. You breathe, you settle down and you just try to execute pitches. And he did exactly that.”

He only allowed one hit over the next two innings. Then in the fourth, the Bulldogs got their only run of the night to cut the deficit to one. He’d quickly bounce back in the fifth with a 1-2-3 frame. He ended his night with six strikeouts and no walks.

“I was ready to go back out for that sixth. You kind of get tunnel vision once you get into the groove,” Jones said. “But I felt good. Coming back from Tommy John last year, it was a struggle. On a pitch count it’s hard to maneuver your way through it cause you’re always thinking about it. But today, coach Parker told me I was free and he was going to let me go. It’s a good feeling to get a little length in me.”

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As the game wore on, South Carolina’s bats eventually cooled down. After knocking Citadel starter Connor Cummiskey out of the game in the second inning, it wouldn’t record another hit for three innings.

Then, the offense woke up in the sixth. After Braylen Wimmer and Gavin Casas singled to start the frame off, an error and passed ball allowed them to move over and score a run.

Cole Messina added another run with an RBI double. Petry followed with an RBI single to cap off a three-run inning.

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The Gamecocks weren’t done yet, though. In the seventh, Casas brought out the tape measure and sent one 379 feet into the home bullpen. His was a two-run shot, making it a 7-1 lead.

In the eighth, Jonathan French capped off the scoring with a solo shot. It was his first home run as a Gamecock after transferring from Clemson.

These additional runs allowed Eli Jerzembeck to work without much fear. He pitched three scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out four.

In the ninth, Nick Proctor came into slam the door and did so. He made quick work of the Bulldogs, striking out three and allowing one hit.

“It’s good to know you have guys you trust in the pen and it makes it a lot easier on the starting pitcher,” Jones said.

Up next: South Carolina is right back at it Wednesday night. The Gamecocks will head back to Fluor Field in Greenville, where they’ll take on USC Upstate. Matthew Becker (1-0, 9.00 ERA) makes his first start of the year. First pitch begins at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.

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