Paul Mainieri Earns First Win With South Carolina In Season Opener Against Sacred Heart

Legendary college baseball head coach Paul Mainieri won his first game of the 2025 season on Opening Day, earning a 5-3 victory over Sacred Heart University in his first year at the helm of the Southeastern Conference’s South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gamecocks defeated the Northeast Conference’s Pioneers at Founders Park in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 14.

Congrats, Coach!#Gamecocks | #ForeverToThee pic.twitter.com/iTdSK8IEvk

— Gamecock Baseball (@GamecockBasebll) February 15, 2025

South Carolina will continue its three-game series against Sacred Heart on Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. EST at home, with the game available on ESPN+.

Right-hander Dylan Eskew started on the mound for the Gamecocks, throwing five innings while allowing three hits and one earned run. Eskew struck out nine and threw 74 pitches, 51 for strikes.

Relievers Tyler Pitzer, Parker Marlatt, and Brendan Sweeney combined for four innings, surrendering two earned runs on three hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

The Gamecocks struck first in the bottom of the first inning when Henry Kaczmar scored on a wild pitch during Ethan Petry’s at-bat, giving South Carolina a 1-0 lead.

In the second inning, KJ Scobey came in to score during Nathan Hall’s at-bat, extending the lead to 2-0.

Sacred Heart responded in the top of the third when right fielder Alex Ungar was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, bringing in catcher Stea Newman to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Petry launched a solo home run over the center field wall in the bottom of the third, marking the 45th of his career and pushing South Carolina’s lead to 3-1.

Career homer No. 45 for Pet

???? SECN+#Gamecocks | #ForeverToThee pic.twitter.com/veb995Jsj8

— Gamecock Baseball (@GamecockBasebll) February 14, 2025

The next run didn’t come until the top of the sixth inning, when Newman lined a double to left field, driving in Tim McGuire to cut the deficit to 3-2.

A few batters later, Ungar tied the game at 3-3 with an infield single to third baseman KJ Scobey. Scobey made a diving stop but couldn’t get the throw to first in time, allowing Peter Link to score the tying run.

WE. ARE. TIED.

SECN+: https://t.co/9Nrkd06e6H pic.twitter.com/HFwGin9Ooj

— SHU Baseball (@PioBaseball) February 14, 2025

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Kaczmar ripped an RBI single up the middle, driving in Blake Jackson to put South Carolina back on top, 4-3.

Kaz gives the Gamecocks the lead!

???? SECN+#Gamecocks | #ForeverToThee pic.twitter.com/47fhObc653

— Gamecock Baseball (@GamecockBasebll) February 14, 2025

During the bottom of the eighth inning, the Gamecocks piled their final run of the game, when Nolan Nawrocki poked a ground ball single into left field, scoring Evan Stone to extend the lead to 5-3. 

Sweeney entered the top of the ninth inning and retired the side in order. He completed the 1-2-3 inning by getting first baseman Dan D’Amore to ground out to second baseman Nolan Nawrocki, who threw to Ethan Petry at first for the final out. Players then embraced head coach Paul Mainieri for picking up his first win in his debut game of the 2024 regular season at the University of South Carolina, as the Gamecocks defeated Sacred Heart University 5-3.

Sacred Heart’s pitching staff, led by head coach head coach Pat Egan, combined for eight innings, allowing seven hits, four earned runs, four walks, and six strikeouts. Starter Joey Trombley, along with relievers Lou Stallone and Ryan Redmond, took the mound, while the Pioneers’ defense committed three errors in their season-opening loss Friday.

Mainieri’s Role at South Carolina

Mainieri, 67, was born in Morgantown, W.Va., and is in his 39th season as a head coach. He ranks 11th all-time in wins with 1,505, trailing Larry Hays (1,508), Jim Morris (1,594), Denney Crabaugh (1,601), Mark Marquess (1,627), Woody Hunt (1,630), Ed Cheff (1,705), Gene Stephenson (1,768), Gordie Gillespie (1,893), Augie Garrido (1,975), and all-time leader Mike Martin (2,029).

Mainieri is seventh all-time NCAA Division I with wins behind Martin, Garrido, Stephenson, Morris, and Hays. 

South Carolina hired Mainieri as its 31st head coach on June 11, 2024, signing him to a five-year contract worth $1.3 million annually.

The Gamecocks parted ways with former head coach Mark Kingston on June 3, 2024, before officially bringing in Mainieri eight days later.

Last season, Kingston led South Carolina to the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid, finishing with a 37-26 record. The Gamecocks went 13-17 in Southeastern Conference play before being eliminated in the NCAA Raleigh Regional.

Mainieri will have to navigate a different course now that he’s back in the dugout after a few years away from coaching. With a talented roster, he’ll aim to propel South Carolina toward a deep postseason run, whether by competing for an SEC championship in Hoover in late May or securing a berth in the College World Series in Omaha in mid-June.

Coaching Legacy and Achievements

Mainieri began his head coaching career at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Fla., from 1983-88 before taking over at the Air Force Academy in 1989. He remained in Colorado Springs through the 1994 season before moving on to coach at the NCAA Division I level.

In six seasons at St. Thomas University, Mainieri compiled a 179-121-2 record, becoming the winningest coach in program history. The school retired his No. 1 jersey in February 2012.

At Air Force, he became the second-winningest coach in program history, posting a 152-158 record before taking over at Notre Dame in the Big East Conference for the 1995 season. He quickly transformed the Fighting Irish into a powerhouse.

Mainieri led Notre Dame to five consecutive Big East tournament titles from 2002-06 and secured four regular-season championships in 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2006 before departing for Baton Rouge after the 2006 season.

At Louisiana State University, where he coached from 2007-21, Mainieri led the Tigers to a national championship in 2009, guiding them to their sixth College World Series title with a three-game series win over Texas.

He also captured four Southeastern Conference regular-season titles in 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2017, along with six SEC tournament championships in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2017.

Throughout his career, Mainieri has earned several coaching accolades, including being named the 2015 NCBWA National Coach of the Year, winning the Skip Bertman Award in 2015, being nominated for Baseball America Coach of the Year in 2009, and winning Collegiate Baseball Coach of the Year that same year. He is a two-time SEC Coach of the Year, earning the honor in 2009 and 2015, and was named Big East Conference Coach of the Year in 2001.

His extensive postseason experience will be invaluable for South Carolina, as he enters the season with a 71-43 career record in NCAA Tournament play.

Mainieri also served as head coach for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in 2018, leading the squad to a 12-3 record with wins over Chinese Taipei, Japan, and Cuba.

He was the first coach from the United States and to bring the USA Baseball CNT to coach against Cuba in Havana after the 1960 U.S. Trade Embargo, after they played their five game series against the Cuban national team from July 10-14 in 2018 at Estadio Latinoamericano. 

Mainieri being back in the SEC is a big boost for his resume and to get back into the tough competition that he is used to coaching with the time he spent in Baton Rouge prior to retiring after the 2021 season. 

South Carolina did not start the 2025 season ranked unlike the other SEC programs with defending National Champion Tennessee at No. 4., Texas A&M at No. 1, LSU at No. 3, Arkansas at No. 5, Florida at No. 10, Vanderbilt at No. 16, Mississippi at No. 18, and first-year SEC member Texas at No. 19, but with Mainieri back in the dugout a lot can go above and beyond with his knowledge of the game and coaching at the highest level in the best conference in College Baseball. 

World Baseball Network spoke with South Carolina head coach Paul Mainieri at the 2024 Italian American Baseball Foundation Gala. Watch the full interview here.

World Baseball Network Q&A Interview With Paul Mainieri

How does it feel to get your first win and be back in the dugout after the 2021 season alongside the guys you had from the fall that experienced this special moment for you? 

It felt great to be back in the dugout, Matt. I can’t say I was nervous—it kind of felt like riding a bike, you know? It almost felt like I hadn’t missed three years. It felt so normal for me after doing it for 39 years and 2,300 games. But really, my focus was just trying to give our guys the best chance to win. Fortunately, we were able to play a pretty solid game against a real scrappy team.

How did you feel with Eskew and the rest of the pitching staff today after having a combined 16 strikeouts against Sacred Heart? 

We started Dylan Eskew because of his experience and competitive zeal, and he really demonstrated it yesterday. He dominated most of the time, but he had one inning where he was in a jam and showed a lot of fortitude to pitch his way out of it, limiting the damage to just one run. [He] set the tone for the night.

Parker Marlot came in and pitched really great out of the bullpen for us. And when we had a chance to close the game, Brendan Sweeney came in and dominated the last inning. That was a great way for our pitching staff to set the tone for Opening Day.

Petry having a multi-hit day including the solo home run in the bottom of the third, and Nawrocki, Kaczmar, coming up big in the late innings, what’s it like to have those guys that can come up big in crucial moments especially to open up 2025?

Yeah, you don’t win college baseball games unless you can win the late innings. We pitched outstanding in the late innings, played outstanding defense, and came through with some really clutch hits [from Nawrocki and Kaczmar].

But even before that, we moved runners, got guys on, moved them over, and got them in. It was just really good, solid baseball in the late innings for us.