South Carolina shuts out The Citadel as pitching settles in after rough weekend

The SEC weekends have been brutal for South Carolina. The midweeks are a much different story.

As much as the Gamecocks have struggled against high-level competition this season, they haven’t lost the games they’re supposed to win. That remains to be the case after a 4-0 win over The Citadel on Tuesday to open a five-game home stand.

South Carolina (21-17, 2-13 SEC) is now a perfect 19-0 against Quad 3 and 4 opponents. The real problem is the 2-17 record against Quad 1 teams. But after a weekend in which it lost on two walk-off home runs and was run-ruled once, wins are wins. And this one snaps a three-game losing skid.

“Just really proud of the guys for bouncing back today after a couple of heartbreaks this past weekend. It sounds like a broken record, I know, but there’s no use dwelling on the past,” head coach Paul Mainieri said. “I told the guys when we got back from College Station after such a heartbreaking defeat, as heartbreaking as it ever can be, that you just can’t do anything about the past.”

In that series, coming on the road at Texas A&M, the Gamecocks’ pitching staff took a beating as they gave up 40 runs and walked 33 batters in three games. The numbers haven’t been good by any stretch this year, but Tuesday was a positive sign.

Jackson Soucie made his third start of the year and pitched a season-high 3.1 shutout innings. The left-hander pounded the strike zone with 37 of his 53 pitches being called strikes as he struck out five and walked one.

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Tyler Pitzer followed suit as the first reliever up and twirled 2.1 scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and didn’t finish with any strikeouts as he mainly pitched to contact. After a scoreless outing in College Station, Ashton Crowther kept dealing on the mound with another 2.1 shutout frames after Pitzer exited.

Crowther, who hasn’t allowed a run since March 22, struck out one and threw 22 of his 28 pitches for strikes.

“I’d say my two-seam/sinker is working the most for me,” Crowther said of his progress this season. “I got a lot of good feel for it, and just like tonight, it was just dropping off the table.”

Parker Marlatt quickly put two on to open his outing in the ninth. But the right-hander got a big double play from the third batter he faced to quickly make a tough jam much more manageable. He then got the final out to complete a shutout performance from the pitching staff.

“Soucie, Pitzer, Ashton, Marlatt, they all did a tremendous job to pitch a shutout,” Mainieri said. “We played good defense behind them. We hit just enough to make it work.”

The offense started strong with four runs through three innings. KJ Scobey opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second, which kickstarted a three-run inning for the Gamecocks. Ethan Petry lined an RBI single into left field, then Beau Hollins was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Both runs came with two outs.

Gavin Braland snapped a 0-for-8 skid with an RBI single through the left side to bring home a run in the third. For some time, though, the freshman catcher would be the last batter to reach base until Dalton Mashore worked a two-out walk in the seventh.

The Gamecocks went through a stretch where 13 straight batters were retired before anyone reached base. All six of their hits came by the end of the third, and they didn’t record any more from that point on. 16 of the final 18 batters were retired, with the only two base runners coming via walks. On the night, they struck out 10 times and walked seven.

Up next: South Carolina will begin a three-game series with No. 11 Ole Miss on Thursday. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.

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