Sanders dazzles as Gamecocks take Georgia series
South Carolina hadn’t won a series against Georgia since 2013 and hadn’t left Athens with a series victory in over a decade.
The Gamecocks can’t say that anymore.
Powered by fantastic pitching from freshman Will Sanders the Gamecocks cruised past Georgia for a 5-1 win and the first road series win at Georgia since 2010 and the first series win on the road this season.
“It was huge. Obviously it starts with starting pitching. Will Sanders was great today,” Mark Kingston said. “It continues to show the progress and improvement of our team from Texas to Vanderbilt to here. We’re getting better every time we go on the road. It’s huge to see.”
Sanders (5-1. 1.98 ERA) dazzled in eight-plus innings, pitching into the ninth and turning in a career outing for the freshman in just his second-career SEC start.
He’d spin together eight one-run innings, a new career-best, scattering eight hits with four strikeouts and no walks with the Gamecocks needing a win to avoid dropping another road series.
“Everything was really working today,” Sanders said. “Sometimes I had a slider that wasn’t biting very well and they kept taking it. That’s what comes with pitching. You have to find what works and stick with it. You have to find those days. Sometimes you’re not going to have everything you need and you have to keep battling and keep competing.
It’s the longest outing by a freshman pitcher since Braden Webb threw eight innings at Vanderbilt in 2016, missing out on a complete game after hitting the leadoff batter and giving up a double.
“He looked really good today, obviously. His fastball was elite today and he was lighting it up well,” Colin Burgess said. “The slider was here and there but showed enough. The changeup was absolutely unreal today.”
The Gamecocks (19-7, 6-3 SEC) jumped out as early as they possibly could—literally on the first pitch of the game—as Brady Allen lifted the first pitch he saw to right field for a leadoff home run.
He’d finish the day 2-for-4 with two home runs—another coming in the fifth—with three runs driven in.
“That was a really talented guy they threw on the mound today,” Kingston said. “He’s a mid-90s guy, which is what Georgia tends to get. I thought having Brady leadoff and go first pitch and hit the ball out of the ballpark gave us some great momentum.”
Georgia tied the game in the third inning on a RBI groundout and things held serve until the fifth when Colin Burgess launched a solo shot, sparking a three-run inning and giving South Carolina a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
For Burgess it’s fourth homer of the season, and he’d plate another in the sixth on a sacrifice fly to left.
“Me and George (Callil) are kind of in the running for hitting home runs in turtlenecks,” Burgess said. “He got one the other day and I had to get myself one today.”
The Gamecocks now have won back-to-back SEC series for the first time since 2018 and have done it behind good pitching but an offense rounding into form.
“The lineup’s unreal,” Burgess said. “Our ceiling is so high.”
