Gamecocks fall behind big against Oklahoma, drop SEC opener 8-5

Oklahoma’s first five batters reached base against new Friday starter Brandon Stone, four of them scored and the Sooners stayed in front all night for an 8-5 victory on opening night of conference play at Founders Park.

A night filled with the promise of a new conference season and a fresh starting pitcher went up in smoke immediately, as Oklahoma (16-1, 1-0 SEC) pounded Stone right off the jump. The first four batters all had sharp hits and the fifth reached on a hit by pitch, loading the bases with nobody out after two runs scored. Stone found his footing and induced two outs, but it was an RBI groundout and a sacrifice fly to plate two more runs.

"We got in a hole there right out of the gate facing one of the top pitchers in the country,” Paul Mainieri said. “He's for sure a first-round pick, really outstanding."

Digging a hole against any Friday night starter is tough, but Oklahoma’s Kyson Witherspoon was a particularly brutal opponent to play from behind against. Witherspoon brought a mix of velocity and movement the Gamecocks had not seen at all in their non-conference slate, and he was dialed in immediately.

Witherspoon struck out six of the first 11 batters he faced and ended his night with seven strikeouts against only one walk, tying up South Carolina's (15-4, 0-1 SEC) bats all night. Jordan Carrion was the lone player to find an extra base hit against him, tripling into the left-center field gap in the fifth and then scoring moments later on Henry Kaczmar’s RBI groundout.

“To their credit, the first inning they hit some hard ground balls,” Mainieri said. “But every ball found a hole. Stone is a ground ball pitcher. We had good scouting reports on the spray charts and we had the guys positioned where we thought they should be positioned, and somehow the balls that they hit just seemed to find the holes.”

Even when the offense finally picked up a little momentum the third time through the order against Witherspoon, it was too late. South Carolina knocked out Oklahoma’s starter after a hit batter and a single in the sixth, but after the Sooners tacked on two more runs in the top half of the frame against Jackson Soucie.

The ball only left the infield twice in the sixth, but the Gamecocks dinked and dunked their way to four runs to claw back into contention. Talmadge LeCroy, Carrion, Kaczmar and Nathan Hall all had RBIs, but the lack of power was evident. The Gamecocks were crying out for a big hit, even getting the tying run at the plate in back-to-back innings, but never found the power.

South Carolina outhit Oklahoma 12-11, but the Gamecocks only had one extra base hit against Oklahoma’s five. The Sooners got solo home runs from the bottom three hitters in the order against there different Gamecock pitchers — Dayton Tockey, Dawson Willis and Dasan Harris off Stone, Soucie and Parker Marlatt — and it pushed the visitors over the top in an otherwise tight game.

“They hit those three solo home runs, and we didn’t hit any,” Mainieri said. “At the end of the day, I guess that was the difference in the game. The kids are doing the best that they can, and at the end of the day you are who you are.”

There were positive signs, for sure. Scobey had three hits, two off Witherspoon. The offense battled out of a 7-1 hole to at least force Oklahoma to use two of its top relievers. But a loss is a loss, and this one is a conference one.

And as Mainieri said, they are who they are.

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