South Carolina pitcher Alex Valentin (7)
Sam Wolfe
Special To The State
GAINESVILLE, Fla.
South Carolina baseball is no stranger to rough SEC opening weekends in recent years.
The Gamecocks have lost their last two SEC opening series, and they made it three in a row this weekend against No. 23 Florida. USC was shut out in the series’ first two games and entered Sunday’s finale trying to avoid being swept.
“Hopefully we can get one out of here,” USC coach Paul Mainieri said after Saturday’s 3-0 loss. “Big difference between getting one and getting zero. So we’re gonna get a good night’s sleep and get fired up and come out tomorrow and hopefully do a little bit more offensively.”
USC scored its first runs of the series Sunday but coupled that with its poorest performances of the weekend on the mound. The Gamecocks were swept by the Gators and fell in a 13-3 run-rule loss.
Gators get to Goodman
After two days of stellar pitching from Josh Gunther and Amp Phillips, where the pair didn’t allow an earned run in 12 combined innings but got no run support from the offense, Sunday was always going to be a mystery for South Carolina (12-9, 0-3 SEC).
Mainieri didn’t announce a starter for the series finale, but he ultimately opted for the familiar choice: redshirt freshman Riley Goodman.
Goodman, who started for USC on opening day and has remained in the weekend rotation since, is somewhat of a mystery himself. Mainieri has often said Goodman has the best “stuff” of the USC staff, but the right-hander out of Memphis hasn’t quite put it together this year. He entered Sunday’s game with a 5.40 ERA and 10 walks allowed in 13.1 innings pitched.
“He was in the bullpen for the first two games. That’s why we had TBA for Sunday. We actually were going to start (Alex) Philpott today, but he’s been sick for the last three days,” Mainieri said. “(Goodman) seemed like the natural guy. I was hoping we could get three innings out of him, and then piece it together after that with Alex and Brandon and a few other guys, but it didn’t work out that way.”
The Gators (18-3, 3-0 SEC) were ready to jump on Goodman after getting shut down by USC’s previous two starters. He loaded the bases in the first inning with a hit and two walks before Florida plated all three runners on a sacrifice fly and a 2-RBI double. Goodman was pulled with two outs in the first inning for USC reliever Alex Valentin, who got out of the inning without another run.
Hopes dashed, tensions flared
USC quickly tied the game up in the second inning and brought some much-needed juice to the dugout with a 3-runI homer from Luke Yuhasz. It was the first runs scored by USC all weekend after being shut out for 20 straight innings.
The energy that emerged from the USC dugout after Yuhasz’s home run — for what felt like the first time all series — was quickly evaporated in the bottom frame.
Valentin returned for the second inning and quickly allowed a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly RBI. Florida shortstop Brendan Lawson followed up with a 2-run homer to give the Gators a 6-3 lead. Lawson flipped his bat in the direction of Valentin, which the USC reliever took exception to.
“I don’t know what we did wrong. What did we do? We gave up a home run. The guy pimped it and flipped the bat towards our pitcher,” Mainieri said. “And it’s supposed to be a point of emphasis this year. Unsportsmanlike conduct like that, the guy’s supposed to be ejected from the game. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
After some words exchanged, both dugouts were issued unsportsmanlike conduct warnings, which prompted some passionate words from Mainieri toward the officials. Nobody was ejected on either team.
From bad to worse
Both teams were held scoreless in the third inning. Things began to snowball quickly for the Gamecocks in the fourth.
USC stranded Patrick Evans at third base in the top half of the inning before sending Valentin out for the bottom half. He loaded the bases and, after giving up some hard contact that pulled just foul, was swapped out for reliever Brandon Stone. The former JUCO transfer had already thrown 45 pitches on Friday.
Stone couldn’t stop or slow the bleeding. He walked in a runner before giving up a grand slam, putting Florida out in front even further, 11-3, after four innings.
Florida tacked on the necessary two runs in the fifth inning to later trigger a run-rule finish in the seventh, and the Gators held USC without another run through the finish line.
“We’re going to just keep working at it and try to figure out the right combination. I can’t say it’s not a little frustrating at times. The kids are … they’re trying, but we just got to keep working with them and keep getting better,” Mainieri said.
South Carolina baseball upcoming scheduleTuesday: vs. Charlotte, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)Friday, March 20: vs. No. 5 Arkansas, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)Saturday, March 21: vs. No. 5 Arkansas, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)Sunday, March 22: vs. No. 5 Arkansas, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published March 15, 2026 at 3:00 PM.