South Carolina Gamecocks OF Evan Stone is introduced before the Opening Day game between UMass Lowell River Hawks at the South Carolina Gamecocks at Founders Park in Columbia, SC, on Feb. 17, 2023.
Jeff Blake Photo
No one in or around the South Carolina baseball program was satisfied with last season — the team’s first losing finish since 1996.
Head coach Mark Kingston and his players have talked all offseason about feeling like they weren’t able to show fans who they really were in last year’s injury-marred season.
Though there’s an entire 2023 season still in front of them, the Gamecocks were able to erase some of those negative feelings with a few big swings on Friday’s Opening Day at Founders Park.
Hosting UMass Lowell for a three-game series, the Gamecocks slugged five home runs en route to clobbering the River Hawks 20-3 in front of a crowd of 7,215. The last time USC scored that many runs on Opening Day was in a 22-5 win against East Carolina in 2008.
USC’s retooled starting lineup flexed its muscle Friday night, taking advantage of gusts blowing out to right field and receiving massive contributions from faces both old and new.
Of the new faces, no one made a bigger splash than Southern Miss transfer Will McGillis, who started at second base and hit two home runs — the first in his debut at-bat as a Gamecock.
Other newcomers made their presence felt as well, with Vanderbilt transfer Gavin Casas driving in USC’s first run of the season with a sacrifice fly in the second inning and with left fielder Caleb Denny — an Oral Roberts transfer — going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
USC’s returning trio of Carson Hornung, Braylen Wimmer and Cole Messina did the rest of the damage, with each hitting a home run to pad USC’s lead. Kingston had talked up Hornung and Messina — both sophomores — for the growth they made as hitters during the fall and spring, and both delivered Friday. Batting leadoff, Hornung drove in five runs and slugged a three-run homer. And Messina added his first career homer after playing sparingly as a freshman.
After slipping all the way to the 18th round of last summer’s draft, Wimmer said he’s come into this season with a renewed focus — playing for the love of the game instead of focusing on the MLB scouts in the stands. So far, so good for Wimmer, who started at shortstop and went 5-for-5 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs scored.
The 18 runs and 15 hits were more than enough for USC’s pitching staff, which held the River Hawks to three runs on four hits. Junior right-hander Will Sanders didn’t have his best command for the Gamecocks, hitting two batters and walking another in his four innings. Touching 96 mph on the stadium radar gun, Sanders allowed two runs on four hits, finishing with 75 pitches.
Relievers James Hicks, Wesley Sweatt and freshman Austin Williamson took over from there and held the UMass Lowell offense in check.
Next four USC baseball games
Saturday: vs. UMass Lowell, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Sunday: vs. UMass Lowell, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Tuesday: vs. Winthrop, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Wednesday: vs. Queens, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
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