South Carolina baseball dropped another midweek game on Tuesday as its pitching struggled in a 7-4 loss to Presbyterian before hosting yet another strong SEC opponent this weekend.
Four freshmen pitchers went to the mound for South Carolina on Tuesday, and each of them didn't have the best of nights. Carmen Mlodzinski got the start after a solid outing last week in the win against The Citadel. Mlodzinski looked off right away, starting with a leadoff walk that would result in two runs scoring in the first inning for Presbyterian. He finished the night giving up four earned runs off of six hits over five innings of work. Mlodzinski walked only that first batter and struck out four, while notching his fourth loss of the season.
TJ Shook, John Gilreath and Parker Coyne all came on in relief looking to hold the Blue Hose but couldn't get the job done. Shook gave up two runs, neither earned, while Coyne gave up one, and the three pitchers combined to walk three batters.
Head coach Mark Kingston was disappointed with his pitching staff after the game, especially after the gem Mlodzinski threw the week before, and said these are guys that need to come in and keep the game close.
"They battled, but when you give up seven runs, that’s not good enough. Bottom line," Kingston said. "Last week, Carmen pitched better and we gave up one run on the road. Tonight, we gave up seven runs. Wasn’t good enough. I don’t care if it’s freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, if we put you on the mound, we expect the job to get done."
At the plate, the Gamecocks couldn't find the spark they needed to compete with the Blue Hose. South Carolina had some good swings but couldn't hit it to the right spot to get the hits it needed.
The Gamecocks scored three runs in the third, thanks to a big two-RBI triple from LT Tolbert to tie things up. The Blue Hose scored one in the fifth and two in the sixth to get the lead they needed to secure just their thirteenth win of the season.
South Carolina is now 5-6 against in-state schools, 2-3 in those during the week. Kingston said after the game that these are games that they are capable of winning, and should win.
“We need to be better,” Kingston said. “Period ... We should not lose these games.”
South Carolina (20-17, 6-9 SEC) faces another tough opponent this weekend, hosting No. 19 LSU for a three game series. Despite their struggles, the Gamecocks have found a little success against ranked opponents over the past few weeks. They took the series opener against No. 3 Arkansas last weekend and the second game in blowout fashion against No. 9 Kentucky the week before. They'll look for similar success against this top-20 opponent.
The first game against LSU is Friday at 7 p.m. Adam Hill and Cody Morris are projected to start on their respective days, but Sunday's starter has not been named yet. The Gamecocks will need a strong start from their pitchers and for their offense to stay healthy to compete against the Tigers.