South Carolina baseball shut out, drops series to Mississippi State. What we saw
South Carolina baseball dropped its second game in a row Saturday.
Head coach Monte Lee and the Gamecocks were shut out 9-0 by No. 17 Mississippi State at home in Founders Park. With the loss, South Carolina is 19-21 (5-12 SEC) on the year and has lost yet another SEC series.
Mississippi State was led to victory by a career-best outing from its starting pitcher, sophomore Duke Stone. The Gamecocks were no match at the plate for Stone and struggled at the dish all game long.
“I just did a poor job, did a poor job as a coach of preparing them for today’s game,” Lee said. “We didn’t execute very well on the mound. We certainly didn’t execute offensively very well today. We didn’t look like we were prepared to play. That falls on me. We got to be much better than we were today, and see if we can get them ready to go tomorrow.”
Although South Carolina has lost the series, it can still steal a win and inch closer to the .500 mark with a victory in the series finale Sunday.
Bulldogs open it up in the fourth
After three scoreless innings, Mississippi State finally got to South Carolina’s ace pitcher Amp Phillips in the top of the fourth.
The Bulldogs were able to move two runners into scoring position with no outs after a muffed throw to first, a single and two wild pitches. Mississippi State scored the first run of the game after a ground out to short from Gehrig Frei.
Phillips walked the next batter, putting two runners back on base. Bulldogs first baseman Blake Bevis took advantage of the opportunity, sending a pitch over the wall in left for a three-run home run. The homer gave Mississippi State a 4-0 lead.
“Tough inning for him,” Lee said. “I think after that, quite honestly, he just didn’t execute some pitches as good as he has been in two strike counts. I think several of those hits were with two strikes. Just left some balls over the plate that I’m sure he wishes he could have gotten back. But you look, we can’t fault Amp too much. He’s been so good for us. He just wasn’t at his best today.”
Mississippi State made it 5–0 two batters later with an RBI single from left fielder Bryce Chance.
Lee opted to take Phillips out of the game after the inning. Phillips ended his outing with six hits and three earned runs.
Stone keeps rollin’
Mississippi State starting pitcher Duke Stone shut down the Gamecocks with ease Saturday.
The 6-foot-5 right-hander threw a career-high six innings. The sophomore allowed only three hits through his first five innings of work. South Carolina only recorded five hits off Stone overall.
Stone set a career high by striking out 12 batters. The Gamecocks were 5 for 22 from the plate when Stone was on the mound.
“He’s got legitimate stuff. He’s really good,” Lee said of Stone. “… I wouldn’t say that it surprised me that he was good. I was surprised that we had the results that we had. I felt like we were in a better position than that going into today, to be able to compete offensively. But I thought he threw the ball really well.”
It looked like South Carolina might have finally cracked the code in the bottom of the sixth, but Stone ultimately prevailed. The Gamecocks loaded the bases on singles from Talmadge LeCroy and KJ Scobey and a pinch-hit walk from Jake Randolph. Stone got out of the jam, though, by forcing Dawson Harman to fly out and end the inning.
Mississippi State bullpen preserves shutout
South Carolina’s struggles on offense continued even after Stone’s afternoon on the mound came to an end.
The Gamecocks recorded two hits in the final three innings of the game. That brought South Carolina’s total to seven hits. South Carolina struck out a season-high 18 times.
South Carolina has now struck out 32 times against the Bulldogs in the series.
“I’ve got to find an answer. That’s just the bottom line,” Lee said of USC’s strikeout problems. “As their coach, I’ve got to find an answer, because we’ve got to be more competitive in two-strike counts than we are. It’s just that simple. And I’ve got to find the answer because we’re not where we need to be in that area at all.”
South Carolina failed to score after solid relief work from Mississippi State pitchers Chris Billingsley and Dane Burns. The Gamecocks had a few shots to get runs on the board late but left three runners stranded in the final three innings. South Carolina has now been shut out three times this season.
To make matters worse for the Gamecocks, Mississippi State added insurance runs in the eighth inning. The Bulldogs made it a 9-0 game on a two-run homer from Ace Reese and an RBI single from Bevis. Mississippi State went 14 for 41 from the plate in the game.
South Carolina baseball’s upcoming schedule
- Sunday, April 19 at 1:30 p.m. vs. Mississippi State (SEC Network+)
- Tuesday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. vs. Presbyterian (SEC Network+)
- Friday, April 24 at 7 p.m. vs. Kentucky (SEC Network+)
- Saturday, April 25 at 4 p.m. vs. Kentucky (SEC Network+)
- Sunday, April 26 at 3 p.m. vs. Kentucky (SEC Network)
This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 4:20 PM with the headline "South Carolina baseball shut out, drops series to Mississippi State. What we saw."
