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USC at 1-5 in SEC after winning Game 1 of series
One of the changes to Carolina Stadium in the offseason was the hallway adjacent to the media room and locker room, as the walls that were previously unadorned now hold the images from the past two national championships that South Carolina claimed.
Those pictures seemed a distant memory Saturday when freshman Brison Celek flied out to center, ending the Gamecocks’ rally against No. 1 Florida in the series-clinching game. The loss marked USC’s second SEC series loss of the season, as the Gamecocks were swept at Kentucky last season.
“There’s always disappointment,” said junior first baseman Christian Walker. “Everybody in the locker room is disappointed, and we should be.”
After trailing 3-0 in the third inning, the Gamecocks were able to tie the game at 3-3, but a two-out triple in the top of the ninth gave the Gators a lead that USC couldn’t surmount, falling 5-4.
The team was happy with the ability to rebound from the early deficit, but the loss was a disappointment for the Gamecocks (17-7, 1-5 SEC) after a convincing 9-3 win over Florida in the first game of the series. The Gators took the next game 8-2.
Though the starting pitching of Forrest Koumas and Colby Holmes faltered in Game 2 and 3 of the series, as neither pitcher got past the third inning, South Carolina coach Ray Tanner was particularly displeased with the “tentative” hitting by USC, as the Gamecocks had just five hits in Saturday’s loss.
In the bottom of the eighth, USC had shortstop Joey Pankake on third and Walker at second with one out, but the next two batters struck out to strand both of the runners. Florida capitalized in the next inning, as UF shortstop Nolan Fontana’s hit to deep center brought in the go-ahead runs.
“We’re maybe looking for a perfect pitch sometimes instead of just being aggressive and making some things happen,” Tanner said. “That’s a sign of inexperience. With me, I’m OK with guys chasing a little bit, but I just don’t want them to be tentative, and that’s been something that I’ve been disappointed about.”
Tanner has tried to combat the inexperience of the team by putting older players on the field. He had ace pitcher Michael Roth hit for himself on Monday and then pinch-hit Roth in Saturday’s game, where he struck out in the bottom of the eighth. For the weekend, Roth was 0-for-5, but Tanner said that he will continue to use him in that role because he’s a veteran on a young squad.
And though the youthful squad was able to be competitive against a team it beat en route to its second national championship, Tanner wants the positives to translate to wins, as the Gamecocks haven’t started 1-5 in the conference in nearly a decade.
“I don’t feel too good, to be honest with you,” Tanner said. “We’ve played hard. We’ve had some spurts where we’ve been a pretty good club, but we haven’t been able to put it all together.”
Saturday’s loss marked the end of a five-game in a row stretch, but the road doesn’t get easier as the Gamecocks will play the next five on the road. Walker said “it’s just hard to deal with the loss in general,” but USC will have to “flush” the struggles as it travel to the Citadel Tuesday.
“We’re showing glimpses of stuff here and there,” Walker said. “Since I’ve been here, I’m definitely not used to losing. I don’t like losing. But that’s the way it goes — we are where we are.”