Wimmer, Winner: Gamecocks clinch SEC series victory over No. 4 Vanderbilt

Braylen Wimmer hit two homers and drove in five runs Saturday to ignite a resurgent South Carolina offense as the Gamecocks won the rubber match over Vanderbilt 8-6 at Founders Park.

The Gamecocks scored 16 runs in the final two games against the Commodores after having just five in the first four SEC games. That included back-to-back 10-0 shutouts at the hands of Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

“I’m very happy for those guys in that locker room right now,” South Carolina coach Mark Kingston said. “They’ve been through a lot through a very young season so far, so to see them get the results of what we got this weekend, just very, very happy for that group. They stayed together. They’ve been fighting and they deserved that weekend series.”

South Carolina (12-11, 2-4 SEC) now owns series wins over then No. 1 Texas and current No. 4 Vanderbilt. The Gamecocks were swept by No. 5 Tennessee to open SEC play. They still have a home series with current No. 1 Mississippi, but the hardest part of the schedule is arguably behind them.

“We kept calling it the gauntlet,” Kingston said. “Between the injuries and the schedule, I’ve never seen anything like it in 34 years of being in college and pro baseball. Obviously, there’s still a lot more challenges ahead of us, but where this team is with what they’ve gone though, I’m just incredibly proud of them.”

Wimmer said the team stayed focused on themselves despite the outside noise on social media from fans and critics alike.

“That’s been the message for the past couple of weeks,” he said. “Keep battling and keep getting after it. Some things don’t go your way at times, and sometimes they do. That’s baseball. We understand that and obviously some people don’t.”

Wimmer, who is from Yukon, Oklahoma, had his dad in town for the weekend. It turned out well as the senior collected six hits in 12 at-bats and drove in six runs. Most importantly, he hit his first two home runs of the season after having 10 last year. They couldn’t have come at a better time for the Gamecocks.

“I needed that,” Wimmer said. “Obviously as a team, we did good. I said it a couple of weeks ago, that’s what our offense can do when we all click.”

Vanderbilt built an early lead off freshman Matthew Becker before Wimmer got things going offensively.

South Carolina was trailing 3-0 in the fourth inning when it came to the plate after a Kevin Madden double. Wimmer then hit a towering shot over the trees just to the left of the batter’s eye in center field to bring the Gamecocks within 3-2.

Vanderbillt (19-4, 4-2) responded with two runs in the top half of the fourth to finally chase Becker out of the game after 4.2 innings. Calvin Hewett had the Commodores first hit of the day with runners in scoring position to push the lead back to 5-2.

That’s when Madden and Wimmer delivered again. Josiah Sightler and Evan Stone walked to leadoff the frame before Madden delivered an RBI single. Wimmer powered the second pitch of the at bat into the Gamecocks bullpen in left-center field for a 6-5 lead.

Michael Braswell and Colin Burgess added RBI singles in the seventh inning to provide some insurance for Cade Austin. The freshman from Chapin pitched for the second consecutive game and earned his first save of the season. He pitched a total of four innings over the two days and allowed just one run.

The three guys Kingston used on the mound Saturday were either true or redshirt freshmen.

“Three South Carolina freshmen in Becker, Hunter and Austin all did a great job,” Kingston said.

Becker was far from his best. He scuffled through 4.2 innings and allowed five runs — four earned — on seven hits, six walks, four strikeouts and a hit batter. Vanderbilt could never deliver the big blow and stranded 13 baserunners.

Next South Carolina baseball game

Who: South Carolina vs Presbyterian

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Where: Founders Park, Columbia, SC

Watch: Streaming, SEC Network Plus

This story was originally published March 26, 2022 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Wimmer, Winner: Gamecocks clinch SEC series victory over No. 4 Vanderbilt."