Causey, Bullpen Guide Gamecocks To 4-3 Win Over Georgia State
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — A frustrating offensive night for South Carolina baseball finally found some light in the sixth inning.
North Carolina transfer Tyler Causey’s first career triple plated one run and then his dash home on a wild pitch added another to break a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth as the Gamecocks grinded out a 4-3 midweek win over Georgia State at SRP Park.
“Coach [Mark] Kingston said that the guy on the mound was a little bit wild," Causey said. "And he said get ready and be aggressive. As soon as he saw it by, I was going.”
Despite facing a starting pitcher who had not recorded more than four outs in any one outing this year and entered the night with an ERA of 15, South Carolina (14-3) struggled at the plate again. Georgia State’s (8-9) Quin McManmon allowed one run in the first inning on an Ethan Petry RBI single, but settled in quickly to befuddle the Gamecock hitters with six strikeouts and just one hit allowed after the opening inning.
In the process his offense gave him a lead against Eddie Copper, the true freshman starter who gave up a crooked number for the first time in his young college career. The pitcher who only allowed three doubles to the first 63 batters he faced gave up three out of four opening the third inning as the Panthers played pepper with the outfield wall to take a 2-1 lead.
Lead-off hitter Ryan Dyal narrowly missed a two-run homer when he slammed one high off the tallest part of the wall in right field, but it was enough to knock in a run and give his team a 2-1 lead it carried until a Ryan Bakes RBI double knotted it back up in the fifth.
After the two-run sixth inning, Kingston went to his bullpen with Roman Kimball as the option. Kimball was following Matthew Becker’s 1 ⅓ scoreless innings, and trying to put a better outing on the board himself after his Saturday struggles. He only got to face two batters, but one of them was a walk which came around to score on an RBI double off Chris Veach.
"We’ve talked about it in our own meetings, I think we’re a staff of appearances," Becker said. "I feel like we could throw nine different guys out there for nine innings, and all nine of them would get the job done. It’s awesome having guys that can go multiple innings, but it’s really not necessary.”
The regular closer came on for midweek action to end the seventh with a strikeout, then Garrett Gainey made it three straight high leverage relievers getting Tuesday work for Kingston as he struck out three batters in the eighth, albeit it scattered around two hitters which moved the tying Georgia State run into scoring position.
Gainey’s strikeout on Georgia State’s Kameron Douglas put out the eighth inning fire, and then the Liberty transfer struck out two more in the ninth inning to close out the game.
“Outstanding," Kingston said about Gainey. "That’s what he’s been for us all year. He’s been such a great addition to our pitching staff all year. He got the last six outs of that ballgame in a one-run game, what more can you say?”
All eyes will turn towards SEC play now as the Gamecocks will head to Oxford for a three-game series against Ole Miss starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
At this time last month, the pitching was by far this group's largest lingering question. Kimball had not pitched in over a year, they were breaking in a new weeknd starter and few, if any, bullpen roles were assigned.
“Our pitching has been a very significant strength so far, and we hope that continues," Kingston said. "We’ve got talented guys, we’ve got guys we can use in different ways, we just want to continue to search for the best ways to use them as the season goes on.”
Now with a staff ERA sitting at a microscopic 2.21 heading into SEC play, there is genuine cause for optimism even with the acknowledgement of the toughest days still lying ahead.
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