Welcome back to the party, Ethan Petry.

South Carolina’s superstar sophomore right fielder took college baseball by storm last year with 23 home runs last season, and added the first two of his 2024 account on Saturday with solo home runs in the third and fifth innings as South Carolina thumped Miami (Ohio) 11-4 at Founders Park.

Petry’s two blasts were the biggest moments of an offensive performance in line with expectations for this team, a stacked lineup without an easy out anywhere. It starts right at the top with Blake Jackson, the Charlotte transfer already making a strong impression on his new teammates. He had an RBI single in South Carolina’s (2-0) four-run second inning, and knocked in two more runs with a bases loaded line drive to center field in the five-run fifth.

“He’s a grinder, he really is," Mark Kingston said about Jackson. "He’s scrappy, he’s a grinder, he’ll wear a pitch, he can bunt for a hit, he’s a good left-handed hitter, he can steal a base, he’s everything we’re looking for.”

It was the second consecutive game where Miami (0-2) actually struck first, this time plating the run in the second inning after scoring in the opening frame yesterday. The Redhawks stranded the bases loaded for the third time in the series against Dylan Eskew in the first inning, but broke through in the second when a Zach MacDonald bouncer to second base kicked off Parker Noland’s glove into center field, allowing Anthony Zarlingo to trot home with the game’s first run.

Zarlingo reached on a walk, Eskew’s fourth out of the first seven batters he faced in a very uneasy opening to his first start as a Gamecock. But after needing 48 pitches to escape the first two innings, he only needed 32 tosses to record the next nine outs as he found his form and moved into a groove.

He also got to pitch the rest of the day with a comfortable lead, as South Carolina immediately answered Miami’s lone tally with four in the second inning. RBIs from Jackson, Tyler Causey, Will Tippett and Dylan Brewer did the damage, as the home team sent eight batters to the plate and recorded four hits.

“I wasn’t nervous or anything," Eskew said. "I was just really fired up. I was ready to go. I think it was when we scored, we went up 4-1 or something, and I kind of just settled it down and was like, ‘Alright, let’s go.’”

The big fifth inning was a different look with only two hits, but the same relentless offensive prowess with four walks and a hit-by-pitch leading to two runs via free passes.

Gamecock debuts took over the day from there, both transfers and true freshmen. Marist transfer pitcher Drake Quinn tossed a scoreless seventh inning, and freshmen position players Ryan Bakes and Lee Ellis both started their tabs as pinch hitters in the seventh.

True freshman lefty Jevarra Martin and JUCO transfer Joey Wittig struggled in their respective debuts combining to allow three runs in the eighth inning, although Wittig bounced back with a scoreless ninth.

“It’s hard to get everybody in the game because we have a lot of good players and there’s guys that have not gotten in the game yet that we want to," Kingston said. "The better we play, the more we can get guys in the game.”

South Carolina will go for the sweep at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the long-awaited Gamecock debut of starting pitcher Roman Kimball.

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