Gamecock Baseball Notebook
COLUMBIA – The University of South Carolina baseball team was 2-1 on the first weekend of the 2026 season, winning a doubleheader on Friday in a series against Northern Kentucky.
Record: 2-1
SEC: 0-0
Home: 2-1
Away: 0-0
Neutral: 0-0
Streak: L1
Last Week:
2/13/26 – Northern Kentucky (W, 5-2)
2/14/26 – Northern Kentucky (W, 6-5)
2/15/26 – Northern Kentucky (L, 2-3)
NOTES:
KJ Scobey hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth in a 6-5 win over Northern Kentucky on Friday night. Scobey has hit Carolina’s last two walk-off hits, as he had one in the 10th inning against North Florida last season. Scobey now has nine career home runs as a Gamecock.
Tyler Bak made the most of his chances at the play in the 6-5 win on Friday night. His 2-run single in the seventh inning gave the Gamecocks a 3-2 lead. NKU came back to go up 5-3 but Bak’s 2-run eighth inning single tied the game at five, eventually leading to Scobey’s walk-off home run in the ninth. Bak reached base six times over the weekend and has a .333 batting average after three games.
Riley Goodman took the ball on Opening Day and pitched 3.2 shutout innings, striking out five in Carolina’s 5-2 win. The Gamecocks won their first game of the season for the seventh straight year and picked up a series win in 28 straight seasons.
Josh Gunther went 4.2 innings on Opening Day, striking out seven while walking just one to pick up the victory. Fellow relief pitcher Alex Valentin made two appearances on the mound and struck out six while allowing just two hits with no runs in 4.1 innings. Valentin earned the save in the Opening Day victory.
Reese Moore had three hits in Saturday’s game against NKU, coming a triple shy of the cycle as he homered in the fifth, singled in the seventh and doubled in the ninth. Moore is hitting .500 in the young season and has a 1.167 slugging percentage.
Carolina continues its schedule of eight games in 10 days with a five-game week. The Gamecocks head to Spartanburg and Fifth Third Park on Tuesday to face Wofford. Carolina returns home to play Gardner-Webb on Wednesday and then hosts Salute to Service weekend, playing a tournament that features Army, Navy and Air Force.
Next Week
2/17/26 – at Wofford, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
2/18/26 – Gardner-Webb, 4 p.m. (SECN+)
2/20/26 – Army, 2 p.m. (SECN+)
2/21/26 – Navy, 1 p.m. (SECN+)
2/22/26 – Air Force, 4 p.m. (SECN+)
