Gamecocks 'put on a real good show' in 20-3 Opening Day win

In a year that will be defined by what transfer portal acquisitions can do at the plate, Friday was a perfect start for South Carolina baseball.

Three different transfers knocked in the first three runs of the season and South Carolina dominated UMass-Lowell 20-3 on Opening Day at Founders Park.

"Older, stronger experienced guys, it matters in our sport," Mark Kingston said. "You saw it right out of the gate, and I think we have an older, experienced lineup for the most part. We hope to see that a lot."

After falling into a quick 1-0 hole in the second inning, the offense immediately went to work. Talmadge LeCroy picked up the first extra base hit of the season when he battled back from an 0-2 count to run it full and smoked a triple off the wall in right field. Up next Vanderbilt transfer first baseman Gavin Casas tied the game with a sacrifice fly, the first of many transfer contributions on the day.

Just seconds later, Southern Mississippi transfer second baseman Will McGillis clubbed the first of his two home runs on the day, a shot out onto the berm in right field to give some early energy to the 7,215 fans in attendance. It was his first of two homers, with another one coming out to right field in the fifth inning.

"Opening Day is always exciting and a new beginning," McGillis said. "But at the same time, I feel like I've known these guys for a long time because it all started back in August."

Oral Roberts transfer left fielder Caleb Denny’s RBI groundout gave South Carolina (1-0) a lead it never relinquished in the bottom of the third after UMass-Lowell (0-1) briefly tied the game. Cole Messina’s two-run home run out to dead center field made it 5-2, and the rout was on.

Most of the damage came in a five-run fourth inning. The Gamecocks picked up four hits and batted around, knocking River Hawks’ starter LJ Keevan out of the game. Carson Hornung got the scoring going when he stepped up with two runners on base and socked a three-run home run into the home bullpen on a low line drive, instantly doubling the lead with one swing. Two more runs crossed the plate in the inning, and it was not even the last time South Carolina batted around in the game.

"He's as good as we have in terms of pitch selection," Kingston said about Hornung. "Sometimes you want a real fast leadoff hitter that can get on base a lot. We don't nececcarily have that, so the next step is you just put a real high on-base percentage guy up there, which he is. But he also can provide power like you saw today."

It did so again in the sixth inning off the back of six free passes — four hit batters and two walks — to score seven runs. Braylen Wimmer had two hits in the inning, part of his 5-for-5 day with two runs knocked in. Hornung also added a bases loaded blooper for a two-run single to give him five RBIs for the game.

On the mound ace Will Sanders did not have his sharpest stuff, but he showed up in a couple big spots. After falling behind 1-0 and allowing UMass-Lowell to load the bases, he struck out River Hawks’ lead-off hitter Jacob Humphrey to limit the damage. And again in the third inning after surrendering the game-tying run and allowing the go-ahead run to reach third base, he escaped trouble with a strikeout and a flyout.

Sanders only went four innings with two runs allowed, followed by two quick 1-2-3 innings from James Hicks. Wesley Sweatt pitched the seventh, and freshman Austin Williamson made his first career outing by striking out three of the six batters he faced across the eighth and ninth.

Some depth position players were able to get work in late in the game. Freshman Ethan Petry checked in at first base and recorded his first career hit on a single up the middle. Michael Braswell also entered at shortstop and recorded his first RBI of the season on an eigth inning sacrifice fly, followed by one from Denny which was the final run of the day and made it an even 20 for the Gamecocks.

"It was a great Opening Day," Kingston said. "It's one game out of 56 regular season games, but games like this are special because it was Opening Day. Everyone was getting to see us for the first time and you only get one chance to make a first impression, especially with the fanbase wanting to see what we're all about. I'm glad that our guys put on a real good show."

Game two of the series is at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon.