South Carolina‘s season came to an end on Sunday after falling to JMU 2-0 in an elimination game of the Raleigh Regional. As the Gamecocks close the book on 2024 with a 37-25 record overall after reaching the NCAA Tournament Regionals for the 35th time in program history.
A win in game five over the Dukes would have advanced the Gamecocks to the Regional Championship Final against the hosting NC State Wolfpack later in the day on Sunday. With South Carolina just a few plays away from potentially playing in a winner-take-all title game to advance the Supers.
Two key plays were reviewed during the game that did not go South Carolina’s way that could have made a big difference, which Gamecocks’ head coach Mark Kingston reflected on following the loss.
“The frustrating thing is that we’re in a centralized situation. So you can’t even ask the umpires really how did you see it and they made the call on the field and then somebody sitting in an office decided to make a call,” Kingston explained.
James Madison challenged a call after outfielder Dylan Brewer was hit by a pitch, with replay officials determining that he leaned into the pitch resulting in a strikeout.
But a more controversial call came in the fifth inning when South Carolina was looking to rally and came close to potentially scoring their first runs of the game with JMU up 1-0. When sophomore Will Tippett laid down a bunt single that put runners on the corners with zero outs in the inning. A play that was replayed and reversed with Tippett being called for a runner’s interference after being hit by the ball while running to first base and deemed out of the baseline.
“And I saw the replay on the board of Tippett’s bunt. Nobody in the dugout thought it would go against us but it did,” Kingston said. “And I didn’t see the Brewer replay. But the guys in the dugout said they didn’t think he made any moves to try to get hit and they both went against us.”
“Sometimes God’s will. Just it is what it is.”
From replay calls to offense at large, things were just not going South Carolina’s way on Sunday. Shut out by the Dukes after recording just five hits on the day, the same number of hits James Madison had in the ball game. But heroics from JMU second baseman Mike Mancini helped the Dukes secure the win, scoring all of his team’s points with a pair of solo home runs despite a strong defensive performance from South Carolina.
James Madison and NC State square off in the Raleigh Regional Final at 6:00 p.m. ET in a matchup streaming on ESPN+.
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