Cruising to supers! South Carolina ousts Campbell to win NCAA Columbia Regional
With a roaring “Gamecocks” chant reverberating through Founders Park, South Carolina outfielder Dylan Brewer closed his glove around a sky-high fly ball in left field, then screamed in excitement — the final out of the Columbia Regional.
The Gamecocks are super once more. No. 1 seed USC flexed its offensive might against No. 2 seed Campbell in Sunday’s regional final, defeating the Camels 16-7 to advance to its first super regional appearance since 2018 — Mark Kingston’s first year as head coach.
Postseason baseball is all about peaking at the right time. Whether slowed by injuries, fatigue or otherwise, the Gamecocks have woken up from their late-season slumber and look much more like the impenetrable force that opened the year 34-6.
After just narrowly earning a hosting bid as the 15th overall seed, the Gamecocks (42-19) won all three games they played in the Columbia Regional this weekend, outscoring opponents 41-11 and playing with a crispness in the field that they’ve lacked for weeks.
USC is paired with the Gainesville Regional and will play either Florida or Texas Tech in super regionals next weekend. With the national seed Gators trying to play through the losers bracket, it’s possible Founders Park could host the super if Florida is eliminated and the Red Raiders advance.
Campbell (46-15), a team that was very much in the hosting mix itself, gave the Gamecocks a brief scare Sunday after walloping N.C. State earlier in the day to advance to the regional final. Center fielder Logan Jordan hit a two-run, no-doubt home run in the first inning against USC left-hander Matthew Becker, saddling the Gamecocks with their first deficit of the weekend.
But the Gamecocks wasted little time bouncing back, grinding through at-bats against the Camels pitching staff as they’ve done all weekend long. The game-breaking inning came in the third, when the Gamecocks came out swinging against starter Ty Cummings and tallied seven runs on just 12 pitches.
Similar to USC’s 11-run fourth against Central Connecticut State on Friday, hitting became highly contagious for the Gamecocks in the third. Starting with middle-of-the-order bats Ethan Petry and Cole Messina, USC strung together five consecutive hits to plate its first three runs of the inning. Then Will McGillis blew the game open with a two-run shot to left field. His return to the top of the lineup after a length arm injury has been an offensive boost for the Gamecocks. In all, USC scored seven runs on eight hits in the inning.
The Camels didn’t fold, and Jordan hit a second home run — a three-run shot — in the bottom of the third to cut the deficit to four runs. But the USC offense kept applying pressure and scored in a variety of ways, from a perfectly executed squeeze bunt from freshman Will Tippett to a home run by shortstop Braylen Wimmer. Third baseman Talmadge LeCroy led the team with five RBI on three hits in a 17-hit offensive performance.
Though Becker didn’t have his best stuff for the Gamecocks, the rested USC bullpen picked up the slack behind him. Reliever Nick Proctor helped stabilize the game in the middle innings, pitching out of a jam in the fourth and allowing two runs in his three innings out of the bullpen. Coming off a “slight lower body injury,” former ace starter Will Sanders made his second appearance of the weekend and threw three scoreless innings to end the game — an encouraging sign for the embattled junior pitcher.
Columbia Regional schedule
Friday, June 2
Game 1 – (3) N.C. State 5, (2) Campbell 1
Game 2 – (1) South Carolina 19, (4) Central Connecticut State 1
Saturday, June 3
Game 3 – (2) Campbell 10 vs. (4) Central Connecticut State 5
Game 4 – (1) South Carolina 6, (3) N.C. State 3
Sunday, June 4
Game 5 – (2) Campbell 11 vs. (3) N.C. State 1, Noon
Game 6 – (1) South Carolina 16 vs. (2) Campbell 7, 6 p.m.
