Baseball . February 19, 2023

Mahoney's Gem Lifts Baseball to a Sweep of UMass Lowell

Game #1

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COLUMBIA – The University of South Carolina baseball team completed a three-game sweep of UMass Lowell with a 12-1 win on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 19) at Founders Park.

Jack Mahoney excelled on the mound, striking out nine while allowing five hits, no runs and no walks in 5.2 innings in his first appearance on the mound since May of 2021. Mahoney struck out the side in the first and also had 1-2-3 innings in the second and fifth. Cade Austin struck out a pair in 1.1 innings, including coming in the sixth with two runners on and getting a strikeout to end the threat.

Carolina hit five home runs in the game, giving them 14 on the weekend. Gavin Casas had a pair while Cole Messina, Ethan Petry and Kevin Madden each had a round tripper.

The game was scoreless until the fifth. Carson Hornung doubled with two out and scored on Braylen Wimmer’s single to center. After a walk to Caleb Denny, Messina hit a deep drive to left field for his second home run of the weekend, giving Carolina a 4-0 lead. Two batters later, Casas made it 6-0 with a two-run home run to right.

The Gamecocks scored runs in each of the next three innings to complete the sweep. Messina drove in four while Casas had three RBI. Caleb Denny was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

POSTGAME NOTES

Carolina earns a sweep on Opening Weekend for the third time in four years. The Gamecocks also swept Holy Cross in 2020 Dayton in 2021.
The Gamecocks plated 49 runs in its first three games, the most by a Carolina team since the 1980 team plated 59 runs in its first three contests.
Mahoney earned a career high nine strikeouts in the win. He also collected his fourth win as a Gamecock.
Carolina ended the weekend hitting .393 with a .832 slugging and a .507 on-base percentage.
Nick Proctor and Dylan Eskew made their first appearances in a Gamecock uniform.
Dylan Brewer stole home in Sunday’s win. It’s the first steal of home for Carolina since Carlos Cortes at Vanderbilt on April 27, 2018.

UP NEXT
Carolina continues its season-opening nine game homestand on Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 21) against Winthrop. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.