South Carolina offense comes to life after Kingston ejection to pick up win in finale

Mark Kingston was furious. Irate. Upset with what he just saw take place.

With two runners on, Caleb Denny checked his swing and went around for strike three to end the third inning. Sure, Kingston wasn’t happy about it, but there was more to it. He thought a pitch clock violation should’ve been called before the strikeout could happen. It would’ve been ball four and loaded the bases.

Without hesitation, Kingston stormed out of the dugout and the home-plate umpire quickly threw him out of the game. Since this was his second ejection of the season, he’ll be serving a one-game suspension later this week. But it might’ve been worth it to get his team going.

After trailing by as much as four runs, No. 3 South Carolina (35-8, 14-6 SEC) fought from behind all game long to win 8-7 over Auburn on Sunday.

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Just like the previous two games, it was a challenge to get through the first inning unscathed. After allowing one run, Matthew Becker had a chance to get out of it with two outs. But he then gave up back-to-back homers to put Auburn up by four.

An inning later, Becker was hurt by the long ball again, as Nate LaRue homered for the second day in a row. Once he faced the lineup the second time through, he settled in and pitched much better.

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Becker allowed two hits after the LaRue homer and sat down the last seven batters he faced. He’d make it through five innings with eight strikeouts and one walk. While it wasn’t his best outing, it was more than enough to give his team a chance.

And that’s what happened. Soon after the Kingston ejection, the offense started to wake up. In the fourth, the Gamecocks got the bases loaded with two walks and a single. With how banged up the lineup was, it was their best chance to do something. On a 2-2 pitch, Michael Braswell laced a single into center field, scoring two runs to make it a one-run game.

In the following inning, South Carolina got a big break, as Auburn reliever Chase Allsup’s pickoff throw to second base went into center field, advancing two runners into scoring position. Carson Hornung proceeded to take advantage of the mistake by driving home a run on a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

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Minutes after South Carolina just fought back to tie the game, it was back to being a deficit again. Eli Jones came in to start the sixth and served up a solo shot to Bryson Ware on the third pitch he threw.

But the Gamecocks wouldn’t go away quietly like they had the previous two games of the series. Instead, Will Tippett, who came into the game hitting .135, crushed a three-run homer to give them their first lead of the weekend. It was his first home run as a Gamecock.

For the first time in the series, the offense and pitching were in sync with each other.

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With the lead now intact, the bullpen had a chance to lock the game down. Chris Veach came in the seventh and worked out of a minor jam but faced serious trouble in the eighth.

Auburn had the bases loaded with one out. The offense had been hitting well all series long. But in a true Houdini act, Veach got a pair of fly outs to end the threat.

Sitting at 35 pitches, Veach came back out for the ninth. It didn’t look to be the best choice, though, as Bobby Peirce homered on the first pitch.

Nick Proctor came in with the task of trying to get the Gamecocks out of it. With a pinch-runner on first, Jonathan French made a heads up play and picked him off. After a one-out single, Proctor retired the next two batters to seal the deal.

Up next: South Carolina will head to Rock Hill to take on the Winthrop Eagles Wednesday night. First pitch is at for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

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