Baseball Scores Eight Unanswered in Win over Winthrop

COLUMBIA – Trailing 6-0 after three innings, the University of South Carolina baseball team rallied for eight consecutive runs in an 8-6 win over Winthrop Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 19) at Founders Park. South Carolina moves to 3-1 while Winthrop falls to 1-3.

Winthrop took the early lead in the top of the first. Scout McFalls drew a walk and then Gamecock starter TJ Shook allowed two consecutive doubles to Alex Raines and Dillon Morton, the second of the two bringing home the two runners in scoring position. With Mulkey on second, Shook threw a pitch in the dirt and Mulkey advanced to third. Luke Berryhill’s throw down the line missed the mark and wound up in left field, allowing Mulkey to score and put the Eagles up 3-0.

With Cam Tringali now in the game in the second for the Gamecocks, Jake Sullivan doubled after an attempted diving grab from Hopkins. A sacrifice bunt from Tyler Baker led to an errant throw from Tringali towards first to bring Sullivan home. Winthrop extended their lead again after a passed ball and a wild pitch from Tringali allowed Baker to round the bases to score and go up 5-0.

Winthrop continued its scoring in the third as it added another run. Mulkey got his second hit of the game, a single this time, then stole second before being driven in by Hunter Lipscomb to push the lead to 6-0.

The Gamecocks got one run in the bottom of the third thanks to a Brady Allen single followed by a walk, hit by pitch, and another walk to drive him in and cut the lead to 6-1.

South Carolina continued to chip away at Winthrop’s lead in the fourth. Jacob Olson singled to start the inning off and he was ultimately brought home by Noah Campbell after getting on base on a fielding error, making the score 6-2.

The Gamecocks continued working in the fifth, scoring two runs to make the score 6-4. A Luke Berryhill double down the left field line scored TJ Hopkins from first. Later in the frame, Chris Cullen grounded out to short but plated Berryhill to put the Gamecocks down two.

Carolina added three runs in the sixth to take the lead for good. With two outs, Campbell singled and advanced to third on an error off Quinntin Perez’s bat. TJ Hopkins doubled to bring Campbell home and Berryhill singled to left field, scoring Hopkins and Perez and giving the Gamecocks the 7-6 lead.

Another run in the eighth brought the Carolina lead to 8-6, where it would remain to be the final. Campbell led off with a double and Hopkins reached on a throwing error to bring in Campbell for the eighth and final run.

For the Gamecocks, sophomore RHP Parker Coyne (1-0) got the win, surrendering just one hit in 3.0 innings pitched, striking out six of the 10 batters faced. Junior RHP Sawyer Bridges got the seven-out save, giving up just one hit in 2.1 innings on the mound. For Winthrop, freshman RHP Colton Rendon (0-1) suffered the loss, giving up five runs, 2 of which were earned, in 2.1 innings pitched.

GAMECHANGER

Luke Berryhill gave the Gamecocks the lead for the first time on the night with a two-out single to left in the bottom of the sixth.

KEY STAT

Parker Coyne tied a career high with six strikeouts on the night, quieting the Winthrop bats that put up six runs in the first three innings of play.

NOTABLE

• TJ Hopkins went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI on the night, upping his batting average to .438 on the year.
• Bridges picked up the seven-out save, his sixth career save as a Gamecock. Bridges struck out a batter in the 2.1 innings of work.
• Carolina now has a 19-7 series advantage on Winthrop and has won four in a row over the Eagles.
• Noah Campbell went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in tonight’s win. He also walked in the victory.

UP NEXT

South Carolina will face Presbyterian Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 20) at 4 p.m. at Founders Park. The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.