USC aims to snap losing skid against Bucs
After getting swept in its past three SEC series, the South Carolina softball team didn’t have much room to breathe as it faced its toughest opponent this weekend in No. 1 Alabama.
Despite forcing the Crimson Tide to play three seven-inning games, the Gamecocks were unable to heat up at the plate, getting shutout in each game while getting swept for the fourth straight weekend.
Though things may look gloomy for USC, the team is still optimistic as it continues to get better through the losses.
“We have to continue to see the improvement,” coach Beverly Smith said. “Again, I think they saw their improvement in their adjustments at the plate from game one into game three against [Alabama pitcher Kelsi Dunne]. In game two, I thought they did a really nice job executing our game plan.”
As the Gamecocks prepare to rebound against Charleston Southern, they can find comfort in the fact that they earned their first victory of the season against the Buccaneers, winning 10-6 at home.
CSU enters the matchup sporting 20 home runs on the year, while the Gamecocks come in struggling to manufacture runs.
Smith doesn’t see the lack of runs from the weekend as something that should become commonplace for the squad, however.
“Our bats did go cold,” Smith said. “I think we’re a better hitting team than we displayed this weekend. Alabama certainly has excellent pitching, but I believe that we’re a better offensive team than we actually showed this weekend.”
Charleston Southern heads to Columbia just a day after a doubleheader against Coastal Carolina. In their weekend series against Presbyterian, the Buccaneers dropped two of the three games.
With aspirations to make the NCAA Tournament, USC will likely need to make a statement in its upcoming nonconference stint, as it faces CSU before North Carolina on Wednesday. It will play two games at Longwood over the weekend and a game against Coastal Carolina on Monday.
“I think we’ll be emphasizing the same things we emphasize if we’re playing Alabama or if we’re playing Charleston Southern or if we’re playing North Carolina,” Smith said. “It’s about having good at-bats; on defense, taking care of the ball and getting outs. Our team did a great job playing defense this weekend against Alabama. We need to continue to do that. We can’t be hot and cold — we’ve got to play the game the same.”