Gamecock Trio Earns D1 Baseball Honors

OMAHA – University of South Carolina freshman outfielder Ethan Petry was named to the D1 Baseball’s Freshman All-America team while he joined catcher Cole Messina and righthanded pitcher Jack Mahoney on the D1 Baseball’s SEC Extra All-SEC teams, the organization announced this week.

Petry and Messina were named to the SEC Extra’s first team while Mahoney was a second team selection. Petry also was named to the SEC Extra’s All-Freshman team.

Petry ended his rookie season with a .376 batting average with 10 doubles, 23 home runs and 75 RBI. The Land O’Lakes, Fla., native scored 55 runs and had a .733 slugging percentage. In the Columbia Regional, Petry was 4-for-12 with five runs scored, a home run and three RBI on his way to being named to the All-Columbia Regional team.

Messina hit .307 with 18 doubles, 17 home runs and 65 RBI in 62 games played this season. He slugged .615 and had a .428 on-base percentage while stealing eight bases. Messina threw out eight runners trying to steal this season and had 40 walks and 11 hit-by-pitches.

Mahoney was 7-4 with a 4.16 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 84.1 innings pitched and 17 starts. He had four wins and a 4.04 ERA in SEC games and had six or more strikeouts in seven starts. Mahoney earned the win in the Columbia Regional win over NC State and had a combined 15 strikeouts in May wins over Arkansas and Tennessee.

The Gamecocks (42-21, 16-13 SEC) ended the 2023 season with a Columbia Regional title, a trip to the Gainesville Super Regional, a pair of All-SEC First team honors and a national ranking as high as No. 3 this season.