Bullpen falters after Gainey's strong start as South Carolina gets swept at home
Just when it looked like things couldn’t get much worse for South Carolina, they did.
Following a strong performance from Garrett Gainey, the No. 13 Gamecocks blew multiple leads afterwards in a 14-6 loss to No. 15 Georgia on Saturday.
It’s been nothing short of a disastrous weekend for South Carolina (33-18, 13-14 SEC). After getting swept by the Dawgs, it will head into the final week of the regular season under .500 in SEC play.
“Well, Georgia played their ass off all weekend, and we did not,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “So for seven innings today, I thought we were going to win that game. Gainey did great, did exactly what we thought he would in the starting role. And then obviously, it all fell in on us those last two innings. Got to be better from that and we will.”
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Gainey, making his first start of the year, had his work cut out against a lineup that had been feasting all weekend. In the second, he’d leave a pitch up in the zone to Tre Phelps who hit his fourth homer of the weekend. But other than that, he was in command for much of the afternoon.
The left-hander worked around any trouble he faced between the third and fifth innings. He’d get a huge double play ball to end the fourth.
As Gainey worked into the sixth, he was on a roll with little signs of slowing down. But after an error allowed Charlie Condon to reach first, he’d give up a two-run homer to Slate Alford to make it one-run game.
This would bring an end to an otherwise brilliant performance from Gainey. He’d strike out seven and walk one on 81 pitches, easily his longest outing of the year. But it was just what South Carolina needed.
Fortunately, he’d get some much-needed run support from his offense. In the third, Gavin Casas crushed a solo homer into right to tie the game at one. Then, with two on and nobody out, Blake Jackson laid down a great bunt towards second base, but the throw would get away and allow a run to score.
In the next at-bat, Cole Messina hit a ground ball to short. Georgia’s Kolby Branch tried to go to second to start a double play but his throw sailed into right and brought home another run. The Gamecocks would get one more in the frame on an RBI groundout from Dalton Reeves.
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But with an offense like Georgia’s that could go off at a moment’s notice, South Carolina needed to do more but couldn’t do so. And in the seventh, with Chris Veach in the game, the Dawgs tied the game on an RBI single off the bat of Corey Collins.
However, the Gamecocks wasted no time answering back, as they found themselves with two on and nobody out. Ethan Petry brought both home with an RBI double off the bullpen wall in left to take a 6-4 lead.
Needing six outs to secure the win, South Carolina turned to Dylan Eskew in the eighth. But he didn’t have his best stuff. For the second time, Georgia came from behind and plated two runs to tie it up at six.
After bringing in Matthew Becker for two batters, Connor McCreery came in to face a righty with the bases loaded and two outs. But on a 1-0 pitch, pinch-hitter Logan Jordan hit a go-ahead grand slam to give Georgia a 10-6 lead.
In total, the bullpen gave up seven earned runs on seven hits and walked five. South Carolina, who looked to be in a good position after Gainey exited, had to use six pitchers to get 11 outs.
“The plan was Gainey, Veach, and then Eskew. Eskew, obviously, last time he pitched on this field he shut out Kentucky. And so, I’m surprised how today went,” Kingston said. “But Gainey did his job, that’s exactly what we thought we would get out of him. 80 pitches was his pitch count because we have to work him up as we get towards regionals so that he’ll be a 100-pitch guy for the regionals. But you can’t snap your fingers and have that happen overnight. Veach came in and only gave up the one earned run, minimized some damage. I liked where we were at that point. Again, we had a guy coming in the game with a two-run lead and two innings to go that had thrown a shutout against Kentucky. So it just didn’t work out.”
Up next: South Carolina will head to Knoxville on Thursday to begin its final regular season series of the year with No. 1 Tennessee. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.
