Times have been tough as of late for the South Carolina baseball team, and the Gamecocks may have hit rock bottom when getting swept this past weekend on the road by No. 10 Florida, but head coach Chad Holbrook is taking the blame.
“To be honest with you, we’ve been inconsistent in all phases of the game, and I take responsibility for that,” Holbrook said on Monday on 107.5 FM’s The Halftime Show. “It’s just disappointing. So like I said, I’ve got good kids that have worked their butts off and that have played hard and are trying.”
South Carolina has certainly struggled in nearly all aspects of the game recently, failing to produce at the plate while also having a hard time getting opposing batters out.
The Gamecocks were outscored 38-10 in their three games against the Gators and have continued to slide in the SEC standings while dropping out of most Top 25 polls.
Even with his team’s latest struggles, Holbrook said the effort of his players isn’t the issue.
“My guys are hurting,” Holbrook said to The Big Spur. “They played hard. I have no problem with their effort. We didn’t play well — gave them a lot of free bases, walked them, put them in fastball counts and they made us play. We’ll try to regroup.”
For a team that was ranked No. 5 in D1baseball.com’s Preseason Top 25 poll, South Carolina has definitely underachieved to this point in the season, especially considering the fact that Holbrook’s team opened up SEC play with a three-game sweep of Kentucky.
However, the Gamecocks are 3-9 against conference opponents since then and find themselves in eighth place in the SEC.
Holbrook hopes that the Gamecocks’ recent struggles will be enough to motivate them.
“I hope I don’t have to motivate them; I’ve tried everything in the book,” Holbrook said to The Big Spur. “If getting your tail kicked three games doesn’t motivate you, I don’t know what will.”
Struggles threaten NCAA tournament chances
Making the NCAA tournament on a yearly basis has been a regular occurrence for South Carolina, but the Gamecocks are currently in the bottom half of the SEC standings and have the 11th worst RPI ranking in the SEC.
Last week, D1baseball.com projected South Carolina to make the NCAA tournament as a No. 2 seed, but that may very well change due to the Gamecocks’ tough weekend down in Gainesville.
Tough stretch ahead
Things won’t be getting any easier for South Carolina, either. When the Gamecocks resume SEC play on Thursday, they’ll be starting a three-game series against Vanderbilt, the reigning College World Series Champions. The Commodores are currently ranked fifth nationally by Baseball America.
After facing Vanderbilt, two of South Carolina’s final four SEC series are against Texas A&M and LSU, both national powerhouses.
Presbyterian up next
Before going up against Vanderbilt this upcoming weekend, the Gamecocks will host in-state opponent Presbyterian.
South Carolina has won three consecutive nonconference games and Holbrook’s team is 19-5 at Carolina Stadium this season.
Martin has been lone bright spot
South Carolina’s offense as a whole has been inconsistent and underwhelming in 2015, but senior first baseman Kyle Martin has been making the most of his final season as a Gamecock.
Through 37 games, Martin leads South Carolina in batting average (.382), hits (52), doubles (10), home runs (8), RBIs (39) and slugging percentage (.662).