Taking Stock Of The Gamecock Baseball Team
posted by Scott Hood, 5/05/2008 12:52:00 AM
At the time, USC was 11-10 in the SEC, a disappointing mark for one of the more talented teams in the league. Questions began to creep in as to whether the Gamecocks would even qualify for the SEC Tournament.
In my opinion, this past weekend’s series against Florida would tell the tale. Were the Gamecocks for real? A series loss to the Gators and USC would have been .500 at best heading into Fayetteville to face a desperate Arkansas team fighting for to make the post-season.
After the 9-3 loss to the Gators on Friday night extended USC’s losing streak to four games, I wouldn’t have blamed any USC fan for being pessimistic. Frankly, the Gamecocks looked terrible. They played with little energy or emotion.
The storm clouds continued to hover on Saturday through the first five innings when Florida led, 5-3. Again, there was little life in the Gamecocks or the sell-out crowd on hand.
Then, all of a sudden, the skies cleared.
It began innocently enough when one of USC’s most exciting players, freshman Whit Merrifield did what he does best – bunt the baseball. He beat the throw to first, as he typically does.
But the ball sailed beyond the bag and Merrifield scampered to second on the throwing error. Moments later, he scored on a double by Justin Smoak to cut Florida’s lead to 5-4.
The score stayed that way until the seventh. That’s when James Darnell delivered one of the biggest hits of his career, a two-run single that gave USC the lead for the first time in the series at 6-5.
For possibly the first time over the course of the first two games of the series, USC fans had a reason to cheer loudly.
Will Atwood closed the game with five flawless innings for USC’s second complete game of the season. He certainly picked a good time for that.
The losing streak was over.
In Sunday’s rubber game, USC fell behind 5-3 in the middle of the fifth inning, but responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead for good.
It was gut check time, and the Gamecocks passed with flying colors. They got what they desperately needed - a series win.
So, after beating the Gators, where do the Gamecocks go from here? They still have plenty of work to do. Yes, they’re 13-11, but a berth in the SEC Tournament is still far from a sure thing.
By this time next week, we’ll be talking about how USC did in its series at Arkansas. Without question, the road has been a difficult place for USC to play since the middle of March.
The fact they’re even 4-8 on the road in conference play this season is due largely to the three-game sweep over Auburn on the Plains. USC is 1-7 in the other three series.
Arkansas is one-half game behind Kentucky and Tennessee in the race for the final berth in the SEC Tournament. You know the Razorbacks will come ready to play. USC will need to answer the intensity I expect Arkansas will bring to the ballpark.
In my opinion, USC will close out the regular season with a 6-2 or 7-1 record in the final eight games. I think USC will sweep Tennessee on the final weekend, but they’re very hard to come by in the SEC. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tennessee won one game because that’s the nature of the conference.
Let’s say USC goes 7-1 and finishes with 40 regular season victories. I think that would be good enough to host a NCAA Regional.
How about hosting a Super Regional? Based on USC’s history over the last decade, getting to Omaha could hinge on whether USC hosts a Super Regional. If they do, their chances improve dramatically.
But earning the right to do that may prove extremely difficult, considering the SEC will likely not receive more than two national seeds, and Georgia and Vanderbilt are ahead of USC in the standings and they both beat the Gamecocks head-to-head.
In my opinion, the only realistic chance USC has to earn a national seed at this point is to finish at least 7-1 in the regular season and then win at least three games in the SEC Tournament and advance as far as the tournament championship game.
If USC accomplished that, the Gamecocks would head into the NCAA Tournament with a minimum of 43 or 44 victories.
That would be a great season for most Division I teams, but for a fan base spoiled by three consecutive trips to the College World Series earlier this decade, would another year without a trip to Omaha pass without unrest? I doubt it.
The final days of Sarge Frye Field are going to be interesting, maybe even fun.
One week ago, as I meandered my way back from Baton Rouge, La. following South Carolina’s sweep at the hands of LSU, I took stock of the USC baseball team and where it stood.
At the time, USC was 11-10 in the SEC, a disappointing mark for one of the more talented teams in the league. Questions began to creep in as to whether the Gamecocks would even qualify for the SEC Tournament.
In my opinion, this past weekend’s series against Florida would tell the tale. Were the Gamecocks for real? A series loss to the Gators and USC would have been .500 at best heading into Fayetteville to face a desperate Arkansas team fighting for to make the post-season.
After the 9-3 loss to the Gators on Friday night extended USC’s losing streak to four games, I wouldn’t have blamed any USC fan for being pessimistic. Frankly, the Gamecocks looked terrible. They played with little energy or emotion.
The storm clouds continued to hover on Saturday through the first five innings when Florida led, 5-3. Again, there was little life in the Gamecocks or the sell-out crowd on hand.
Then, all of a sudden, the skies cleared.
It began innocently enough when one of USC’s most exciting players, freshman Whit Merrifield did what he does best – bunt the baseball. He beat the throw to first, as he typically does.
But the ball sailed beyond the bag and Merrifield scampered to second on the throwing error. Moments later, he scored on a double by Justin Smoak to cut Florida’s lead to 5-4.
The score stayed that way until the seventh. That’s when James Darnell delivered one of the biggest hits of his career, a two-run single that gave USC the lead for the first time in the series at 6-5.
For possibly the first time over the course of the first two games of the series, USC fans had a reason to cheer loudly.
Will Atwood closed the game with five flawless innings for USC’s second complete game of the season. He certainly picked a good time for that.
The losing streak was over.
In Sunday’s rubber game, USC fell behind 5-3 in the middle of the fifth inning, but responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead for good.
It was gut check time, and the Gamecocks passed with flying colors. They got what they desperately needed - a series win.
So, after beating the Gators, where do the Gamecocks go from here? They still have plenty of work to do. Yes, they’re 13-11, but a berth in the SEC Tournament is still far from a sure thing.
By this time next week, we’ll be talking about how USC did in its series at Arkansas. Without question, the road has been a difficult place for USC to play since the middle of March.
The fact they’re even 4-8 on the road in conference play this season is due largely to the three-game sweep over Auburn on the Plains. USC is 1-7 in the other three series.
Arkansas is one-half game behind Kentucky and Tennessee in the race for the final berth in the SEC Tournament. You know the Razorbacks will come ready to play. USC will need to answer the intensity I expect Arkansas will bring to the ballpark.
In my opinion, USC will close out the regular season with a 6-2 or 7-1 record in the final eight games. I think USC will sweep Tennessee on the final weekend, but they’re very hard to come by in the SEC. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tennessee won one game because that’s the nature of the conference.
Let’s say USC goes 7-1 and finishes with 40 regular season victories. I think that would be good enough to host a NCAA Regional.
How about hosting a Super Regional? Based on USC’s history over the last decade, getting to Omaha could hinge on whether USC hosts a Super Regional. If they do, their chances improve dramatically.
But earning the right to do that may prove extremely difficult, considering the SEC will likely not receive more than two national seeds, and Georgia and Vanderbilt are ahead of USC in the standings and they both beat the Gamecocks head-to-head.
In my opinion, the only realistic chance USC has to earn a national seed at this point is to finish at least 7-1 in the regular season and then win at least three games in the SEC Tournament and advance as far as the tournament championship game.
If USC accomplished that, the Gamecocks would head into the NCAA Tournament with a minimum of 43 or 44 victories.
That would be a great season for most Division I teams, but for a fan base spoiled by three consecutive trips to the College World Series earlier this decade, would another year without a trip to Omaha pass without unrest? I doubt it.
The final days of Sarge Frye Field are going to be interesting, maybe even fun.
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