‘Who’s the real Carolina?’ USC knocks off No. 13 UNC at Truist Field in Charlotte
The game just felt bigger.
Uptown Charlotte buildings scrape the sky beyond the outfield wall. Rivals North Carolina and South Carolina are having strong seasons.
It was far from a typical Tuesday night midweek baseball game, and South Carolina came in motivated. The Gamecocks, who just dropped out of the D1Baseball’s Top 25, earned a hard-fought 2-1 win over No. 13 North Carolina in a game that drew 4,092 to Truist Field.
“It’s two teams that want to go to Omaha this year,” USC manager Mark Kingston said. “It’s two teams that are having good years. It’s two teams that obviously have a rivalry, you know, over who’s the real Carolina.”
It was the eighth consecutive season that South Carolina (23-10) and North Carolina (26-7) have met in Charlotte. The Gamecocks have now won four of their past five meetings, including the past three.
Kingston, South Carolina’s skipper since 2018, is a UNC alum who played for the Tar Heels from 1989-92. He spent four years in the Chicago Cubs’ organization before beginning his coaching career, and matchups with his alma mater have been meaningful to him since he began coaching in Columbia.
Baby blue and garnet were spotted around a drizzly uptown on Tuesday afternoon. The rain had mostly let up by the time the game began, and UNC starting pitcher Folger Boaz — a freshman left-hander from Pilot Mountain, N.C., north of Winston-Salem — threw the game’s first pitch just past the scheduled 7:04 p.m. start time.
“This place is sick,” said Gamecocks outfielder Dylan Brewer, who went 3-for-4 and drove in the game-winning run. “Especially the view you have — all the buildings — man, it’s dope. Probably the nicest place I’ve played.”
Boaz exited early as South Carolina got runners on base in each of the first three innings, and the Gamecocks took a 1-0 lead when outfielder Ethan Petry dashed home on a groundout by first baseman Gavin Casas.
Dylan Eskew, a junior drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of high school, started on the mound for South Carolina and tossed 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball. UNC designated hitter Alberto Osuna had belted a double to the fence in the fourth inning — and reliever Roman Kimball came out unscathed, escaping the jam with the help of a 4-6-3 double play.
Shortstop Colby Wilkerson finally gave the Tar Heels their offensive breakthrough with two outs in the seventh inning, roping an RBI double into the right-field corner to tie the game at one. Third baseman Gavin Gallaher scored UNC’s first run, but leadoff man Anthony Donofrio struck out swinging, which ended the threat.
The Gamecocks had an emphatic answer.
Brewer, a Latta, S.C., native who played three seasons at Clemson, lined a shot to dead center that easily allowed third baseman Talmadge LeCroy to score the go-ahead run. Brewer hustled all the way to third and was initially ruled safe with an RBI triple, but the umpires reviewed the tag at third base and called Brewer out.
UNC fought back in the last of the eighth, but Gamecocks reliever Connor McCreery — who pitched the last 2 1/3 innings to earn the win — punched out Osuna after first baseman Parks Harbor got a hit that put the potential tying run on base.
“A lot of fun,” Kingston said. “It means a little bit more to me because I’ve been on both sides of this rivalry. So just real happy that our guys got to experience playing in a beautiful ballpark in a beautiful city with a beautiful rivalry. And to come out on top just makes it a little more special.”
