Dalton Mashore swung the bat for the first time in two weeks.
He crushed a grand slam way over the wall in left-center, setting the tone for South Carolina baseball early in its home midweek over USC Upstate.
The St. Mary's transfer has been battling a hip injury, and been in and out of the lineup all season. But his first home rn as a Gamecock made it 4-0 South Carolina in the first inning, and South Carolina cruised from there to a 12-2 run-rule victory against the Spartans.
South Carolina (20-14) starter Tyler Pitzer only pitched one inning, but worked out of a big jam in the top of the first inning. He worked around a single and two walks to hang a zero with a bases loaded strikeout, getting his offense back in the dugout early. Mashore's grand slam was the big blow offensively, but far from the last as South Carolina took out its frustrations from a tough weekend in Starkville against USC Upstate's (16-17) pitching staff.
One inning later Ethan Petry hit a two-run homer to make it 6-0. It was Petry's second consecutive midweek with a home run, his ninth of the season and 53rd as a Gamecock, moving him within nine of Justin Smoak's all-time program record.
Jackson Soucie picked up Pitzer after his one frame and carried the game through three innings, retiring the first six batters he faced on just 17 pitches. He did run into a little bit of trouble in his third inning of work with a double and a two-run homer, but those two knocks were the only blemishes of the night for South Carolina's pitching staff. Zach Russell, Parker Marlatt and Aydin Palmer took care of the remainder of the night, holding the Spartans to two runs in time for the offense to put the game away late.
The Gamecocks scored six runs in the sixth to end matters early. Nathan Hall drew a bases loaded walk and two batters later, Jordan Carrion knocked a three-run double down the right-field line to make it 10-2. After two walks re-loaded the bases, KJ Scobey's two-run single made it 12-2.
Palmer allowed one run in the top half of the seventh to briefly delay the victory, but the offense responded with a Cayden Gaskin walk-off home run to restore the 10-run lead and end the game early.
South Carolina opens a three-game road SEC series at Texas A&M at 8 p.m. ET Thursday with live coverage on ESPNU.
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