South Carolina Gamecocks infielder Patrick Evans (3) celebrates after scoring against the Texas Longhorns during their game at Founders Park, 4/2/26.
Jeff Blake
Jeff Blake Photo
South Carolina Gamecocks infielder Patrick Evans (3) celebrates after scoring against the Texas Longhorns during their game at Founders Park. Jeff Blake Jeff Blake Photo
South Carolina just secured its biggest win of the 2026 baseball season.
The Gamecocks defeated No. 2 Texas 9-1 in the series opener Thursday night at Founders Park. USC was lifted by a five-run second inning and never looked back. USC now has an opportunity to potentially win its first SEC series of the season on Friday or Saturday.
“We’ve been talking all week about playing a complete baseball game, and that started against Wofford in the middle of the week, threw the ball incredibly well and swung the bats well, played great defensively, and carried that right into today against a great Texas ball club,” USC interim coach Monte Lee said. “Ultimately, we just played a complete baseball game.”
Here are three key takeaways from the win:
Valentin starts on short rest
Junior left-handed pitcher Alex Valentin made his second start of the week for USC (15-16, 2-8 SEC) on Thursday.
The Gamecocks’ usual closer threw 13 pitches in a start Tuesday against Wofford. He also threw 21 pitches on March 29 against Georgia. Lee said starting Valentin on Thursday was motivated by a combination of giving usual weekend starters Josh Gunther and Amp Phillips proper rest on a short week and preserving the arm of third starter Brandon Stone, who threw 79 pitches in the series finale against Georgia.
It was a solid outing for Valentin against Texas (24-5, 7-3 SEC) He went 3.2 innings, threw 84 pitches, allowed one run, five hits and a walk while striking out five batters.
“‘When I’m in the bullpen, it’s just go out there and, Monte says it the best, ‘Close your inning and throw one inning at a time,’ and worry about closing your inning,” Valentin said. “Today, it was just about going out there and giving the team as much length as I could.”
Valentin was pulled with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning after making it through the Longhorns’ batting order for the second time. He was replaced by Zach Russell. The sophomore righty forced the third out, and USC led 6-1 after four innings.
South Carolina Gamecocks pitcher Alex Valentin reacts after getting a third out against the Texas Longhorns during their game at Founders Park. Jeff Blake Jeff Blake Photo Gamecocks blast Ruger Riojas
Lee knew USC had its hands full facing Texas ace Ruger Riojas on the mound Thursday. The senior entered the weekend with a 5-0 record and a 1.59 ERA this season. He’d struck out 64 batters in 2026 while walking seven.
“Their pitching staff is pretty dang good,” Lee said before the series on Wednesday.
USC came ready for Riojas, and the offensive onslaught began early. The Gamecocks put up five hits in the second inning, four for extra bases, and scored five runs. Three of USC’s runs came with two outs.
The Gamecocks tacked on their sixth run of the game in the third inning to make it 6-1, and Riojas’ night was done. He was swapped out for freshman reliever Brody Walls before the fourth inning. USC’s six earned runs were the most Riojas has allowed in a game since he allowed six to Kansas State on June 1, 2025.
USC outfielder Patrick Evans had the best game of the Gamecock lineup, hitting 3 for 4 at the plate with a home run and four RBIs. He finished a double short of the cycle.
“We knew that guy was good, and you just can’t be afraid. You’ve got to have all the confidence in the world against a guy like that, especially against a team like that. It’s a great team,” f said. “We just stuck to our approach, knew he was going to throw a lot of strikes and hunted fastballs early, knew he had good off speed. I thought we handled him pretty well.”
Russell, Philpott handle business late
After Russell got the third out in the fourth, he went on to pitch two more shutout innings without allowing a hit, walking two batters and striking out four. Alex Philpott took over in the seventh inning.
Philpott, a transfer from Florida, joined the Gamecocks with hopes of competing for a starting job. He was slated to make the weekend rotation before the season began until he ruptured his UCL and missed the first 17 games of the season. He made his season debut March 10 against The Citadel.
The junior right-hander said before the series on Wednesday that he’s just happy to be back out there, regardless of what his role looks like.
“It’s been great to finally get out there and compete with all my boys again. I know when I first went down, it wasn’t something that I wanted, or I know any of these guys wanted, but we kind of got through it, and now that I’m back out there, it’s fun to compete with my guys again,” he said. “Right now, it’s just kind of doing what Coach Monty needs me to do. There’s no role that I’d say fits me perfect right now.”
Philpott finished the game for USC with three shutout innings and three strikeouts. The Gamecocks tacked on three more runs in the process and closed out the 9-1 victory.
South Carolina baseball upcoming scheduleFriday: vs. Texas, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)Saturday: vs. Texas, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)Tuesday, April 7: vs. Charleston, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published April 2, 2026 at 10:01 PM.