Published Apr 1, 2025
South Carolina baseball snaps losing streak with 11-1 midweek victory
Alan Cole  •  GamecockScoop
Staff Writer
Twitter
@Alan__Cole

Sure, it was just a midweek.

But South Carolina baseball needed some good vibes, and found them on Tuesday night at Founders Park.

South Carolina beat Presbyterian 11-1 in seven innings, scoring nine runs over the final two frames to end the game early on the run rule and snap a seven-game losing streak.

The Gamecocks fell behind 1-0 early, but a Paul Mainieri challenge helped turn the tide early. After Nathan Hall appeared to get thrown out trying to steal second base ending the third inning, Mainieri challenged the play. The call was overturned, extending the inning for Ethan Petry.

He deposited the next pitch into the seats in left field, crushing his 52nd career home run and giving South Carolina (18-12) a lead it never relinquished. The home run was his eighth of the season and moved him within just 10 home runs of Justin Smoak’s all-time program record.

That 2-1 lead stood up all the way until the sixth. Freshman Zach Russell pitched two scoreless innings and sophomore Parker Marlatt added one before the offense finally put the game away against Presbyterian’s (14-16) depth relievers late.

Gavin Braland’s two-run single with two outs in the sixth made it 4-1, and opened the floodgates. The Gamecocks tacked on another run when Jase Woita drew a bases loaded walk, and made it 7-1 on Hall’s two-run single to left.

One inning later, Presbyterian’s defense ended the game early.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Woita popped out to the left side. It should have been a routine, inning-ending play, but Presbyterian’s third baseman Matthew Rollison flubbed the popup, allowing two runners to score and two more to reach scoring position.

One pitch later, Hall grounded to Rollison. Again, the inning should have ended. Again, an error plated two runs.

A wide throw allowed the third and fourth unearned runs of the inning to score, making it 11-1 Gamecocks and ending the game early.

South Carolina is now 8-1 in midweeks on the season, and will start its fourth SEC series of the season on Friday night at 7 p.m. ET at Mississippi State.