Wimmer homers twice, South Carolina takes series over Vanderbilt

South Carolina Braylen Wimmer got off to a slow start hitting for power this season. Through his first 89 at-bats, the normally consistent power-hitter was homer-less.

That changed Saturday.

South Carolina’s second baseman launched two and drove in five as the Gamecocks beat Vanderbilt 8-6 to clinch their second series win over a top-five team. South Carolina also beat then top-ranked Texas.

“He was unbelievable,” Mark Kingston said. “He played like one of the best players in the country today.”

Each homer came with the Gamecocks (12-11, 2-4 SEC) trailing by three runs, his first a two-run shot to cut into Vanderbilt’s lead.

The second came as part of a four-run fifth inning. He launched a go-ahead three-run homer to give South Carolina its first lead of the day.

Wimmer also doubled late and is now hitting .348 on the season with two home runs.

“I needed that. It felt good. As a team, we hit well. I said it a couple of weeks ago that this is what our offense can do when we all click,” Wimmer said. “We’ll build on it, get back to work Monday and go from there.”

The Gamecocks were able to hold onto the lead thanks to masterful pitching out of the bullpen.

After Matthew Becker gave up five earned in 4.2 innings, Aidan Hunter came in and got out of a quick jam before tossing two scoreless innings.

He’d hit a jam in his final inning, putting the tying run at second with leadoff hitter Enrique Bradfield up. Hunter got a ground ball back to the mound to end it.

All three pitchers who threw in the win were freshmen, also from South Carolina.

“Look at that? Three South Carolina freshmen in Becker, Austin and Hunter. Both did a great job. Becker wasn’t quite as sharp as he has been,” Kingston said. “It’s a good sign when you can not have your best stuff, best command, and still will you way through it. He did. He wiggled out of some jams and gave us a chance. Hunter was great again and Austin was great again.”

Cade Austin closed the game, pitching himself into a jam in the ninth but getting a game-ending double play after throwing Friday night.

“Not 100 percent but I just have to go out there and compete. That’s one thing coach (Justin) Parker says all the time,” he said. “If you don’t have your best stuff that day just go out there and do what you do best. I did that pretty well.”

The Gamecocks also put up a few more insurance runs in the seventh with hits from Michael Braswell and Colin Burgess while holding on for a big series victory.

South Carolina’s offense, after a four-game anemic stretch starting at Tennessee, tagged Vanderbilt’s staff for eight runs with also 11 hits.

The Gamecocks hit 6-for-18 with runners on base in addition to 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Kevin Madden had a big day as well, sparking things with a double in his second at-bat en route to a two-hit day and scoring twice.

“Really a lot of it is where the wind’s blowing at Founders Park,” Kingston said. “If the wind’s blowing in, it plays very big and it’s hard to get extra-base hits. When it’s blowing out you can have a lot of production.”

South Carolina is now 4-5 against top-five teams and finish what the Gamecocks called the gauntlet—Clemson, Texas, Tennessee and Vanderbilt—4-8 but 2-2 in series.

“They’ve been through a lot on a very young season so far. to see them get the results we got this weekend, I’m just very happy for that group. They stayed together. They’ve been fighting and deserved a weekend series,” Kingston said. “For the guys to have that resolve and do what they did this weekend it’s a special weekend for us.”