Down Hall and Petry, South Carolina gets job done in midweek win

So much of South Carolina’s offense relies heavily on what Ethan Petry and Nathan Hall bring to the table. They’ve been the team’s two best hitters without question all season.

But for the first time all year, the Gamecocks are having to find a way to get by without them. With both players out of the starting lineup on Tuesday due to injuries, others had to step up. And while it wasn’t pretty at times, they did enough to secure a 5-3 win over Charleston Southern.

“We did just enough today, because our pitching was really good. But on another day, if our pitching gives up seven or eight runs, it’s not going to be enough,” head coach Paul Mainieri said. “So we’re going to have to figure out who gives us the best chance, and hopefully they’ll come through with some big hits for us.”

Without Petry and Hall, South Carolina (26-20) had to find other ways to score runs, some of which came without swinging the bat. Its first run of the night came from a combination of two pitch clock violations, a balk, and a wild pitch in the second inning.

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The Gamecocks broke out for four runs in the seventh to create some separation, started by an RBI walk from Kennedy Jones with the bases loaded. Another run scored on an errant pickoff throw over to first base. But the only big hit of the night came from Evan Stone, who delivered an all-important two-run single.

All four runs came with two outs in the inning. Stone’s run-scoring hit would be the only one of the game for South Carolina, which went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners stranded.

“We had other opportunities, and we just didn’t come through,” Mainieri said. “But when you don’t have a lot of home run power in your lineup, you better come through with the RBI opportunities.”

Despite the tough showing from a less-than-full-strength offense, the pitching did its part to handle business. After giving up five runs without recording an out in his last start, Jarvis Evans Jr. put together a solid bounceback performance and pitched 5.2 shutout innings to get the win. He only struck out one batter and walked three, but mainly relied on pitching to contact throughout his outing.

“That was kind of my main goal tonight,” Evans said. “Just get ahead, get as many first pitch strikes as I can, force contact, force them to hit my defense because, I mean, I trust the guys behind me.”

After Evans came out, the bullpen got some big outs the rest of the way to keep the lead intact. Most notably, after Ashton Crowther surrendered two runs with one out in the eighth, Ryder Garino came in and got the next two batters out to end the threat.

“I was just so proud of Ryder Garino to come in and get two big outs for us,” Mainieri said. “And he hadn’t pitched in a while, but he really attacked the hitters and did a good job.”

Brendan Sweeney managed to record his sixth save of the year in the ninth. But just like how the game went, it didn’t come easily for him. The right-hander gave up a leadoff double, which led to a runner scoring with two outs. He was able to get the final out, though, without any further trouble.

“At the end of the day, Sweeney gave up a run, but got the last out before they tied or took the lead. That’s what the closer is supposed to do,” Mainieri said. “So we’ll take the win and move on to the Gators.”

Up next: South Carolina will begin a three-game series with the Florida Gators on Friday at Founders Park. First pitch is at 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.

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