Sometimes after a tough series loss it can be hard for a team to shake it, sometimes bleeding over into the next game, turning a series loss into a few more clunkers.
Jack Mahoney, Noah Myers and Braylen Wimmer were determined to not let that happen.
The three combined to provide a dominant pitching performance and drive in seven of South Carolina’s runs as the Gamecocks took easy care of The Citadel 9-5 to sweep the season series.
“We’ve been doing it all year. You can’t have our record against that schedule without being able to really bounce back and do it pretty quickly most of the time," Mark Kingston said. "That’s something we’ve emphasized with this team and they’ve done a great job with it.”
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Tuesday’s win was started on the mound with Mahoney (3-0, 1.10 ERA) turning in arguably the best performance of his young career.
The freshman tossed a career-high 7.2-shutout innings, scattering five hits, all singles, while striking out six and walking just one batter, walking off the field to a standing ovation when his night was over.
“I’m not going to lie. I took a peak around walking off. It was a pretty good feeling to have. I got a little goose bumps there,” Mahoney said. “When you play at a place like this, it’s one of the coolest moments I think you can have.”
He was aided by some early offense with Wimmer getting the Gamecocks (26-12, 11-7 SEC) on the board with a two-run shot in the second inning, coming back later and hitting an infield double to drive in another.
The Gamecocks’ nine-hole hitter Noah Myers—in his first start since Opening Day with Colin Burgess getting the day off and Josiah Sightler as the DH nursing a groin injury—effectively put the game away in the fourth, cranking a grand slam to left field for his first homer of his career.
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“Noah Myers has been such a good teammate and such a hard worker and had such a great attitude that we wanted to reward him with that," Kingston said. "It was obviously a big hit for him and for us tonight. It was great to see great kids get rewarded like that.”
It’s a long road for Myers, who’s battled injuries at times this season and came into the game with just 11 official at-bats this season, earning a rather large eruption from the home dugout.
“Yeah it was an awesome feeling for sure. Coming around and seeing the guys and how pumped up they were for me, too," Myers said. "Knowing they have my backs. It was super exciting and felt awesome.”
After putting up eight runs on 13 hits in 27 innings Arkansas the Gamecocks put up nine runs on 12 hits in eight against the Bulldogs. Brady Allen led the way with four hits, including a two-run shot in the eighth.
They'd have seven extra base hits and score in four of the eight innings they batted.
Clarke meanwhile reached in all five of his plate appearances—two doubles, a single and two walks—and scored three of the team’s nine runs.
“It starts with Brady Allen and Wes Clarke. When they’re going well it seems like everything falls into place behind them. They both were tremendous tonight,” Kingston said. “When they’re going well and other guys are following suit we have a chance to be really good.”
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The story of the game, though, was Mahoney, who gave the Gamecocks their second-longest outing by a pitcher this season.
He threw a career-high 94 pitches, 63 strikes, as his ERA dipped to 1.10 and he allowed just one runner into scoring position all night with a single and a walk in the eighth in his first extended action this year.
“He attacked the strike zone and had really good command and control. He only had the six strikeouts but got a lot of early contact cause his fastball has a lot of movement and got a lot of quick outs. He got in a great rhythm," Kingston said.
"We haven’t used him much on the weekends so the plan was, not only for the short term, have him help us win the game tonight and for the long term continue to develop and get a feel for what it’s like to be a big time starter.”
The Citadel tried to make it a game, scoring five runs with two outs in the ninth off reliever Jackson Phipps with a two-run and three-run homer, but the Gamecocks go out of it with a groundout.
