The South Carolina baseball team got off to a great start in Friday's regional opener against Rhode Island when they hit two home runs in the first inning and jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the third. From then on, it was a sad night to be a Gamecock fan. The visitors tagged Clarke Schmidt for five runs in the fourth and fifth innings, and South Carolina never recovered, losing 5-4.
The SEC champions were favored to win the Columbia Regional, but they now must put together a difficult comeback. South Carolina will take on Duke in an elimination game Saturday at noon in an attempt to win four straight do-or-die contests. It all starts with the Blue Devils, but let's take a look at what needs to happen for the Gamecocks to survive and advance to the super regionals.
Avoid the big inning
Against Rhode Island, it was really two big innings that hurt South Carolina, but you get the idea. The Gamecocks need to control the damage if they expect to continue playing baseball after the regional. South Carolina is more than capable of putting up big innings, but the offense has a tendency to stagnate at the worst times (such as the final six innings against Rhode Island). Allowing five runs isn't the end of the world for the Gamecocks, but they will need to focus on damage control and pitching out of jams to make a run.
Preserve pitching
Schmidt threw 89 pitches Friday, and he could very well be done for the weekend. Normal weekend starters Braden Webb and Adam Hill will get starts, but beyond them, who can eat up innings? If the Gamecocks make it to a third game, Taylor Widener, who threw 48 pitches Friday, and Josh Reagan will be considered for the start. Reed Scott and Tyler Johnson might be called upon in every game, and Holbrook will likely turn to the likes of Colie Bowers and Tyler Haswell as the weekend goes on. Ideally, Reagan will be able to pitch an inning out of the bullpen in the first three games before starting on Monday, but South Carolina will have to do everything possible to win each individual game before strategizing for the following one.
Come up with the timely hit
Timely hitting is the key to winning baseball games. The Gamecocks don't hit a whole lot of homers, so two-out hitting will be critical to manufacturing runs. In the third inning Friday, Madison Stokes and Chris Cullen struck out to end the inning with runners on first and second. In the fifth, TJ Hopkins hit a leadoff double and was stranded on second. Hopkins was on second again with one out in the seventh and advanced no further. Finally, in the ninth, Marcus Mooney reached second base with one out and could only watch his teammates make the final two outs. Sense a pattern? Runners will be left on base; that's what happens in baseball. However, going 2-12 with runners in scoring position is a recipe for disaster. South Carolina has to come up with hits in key moments in order to make this run.
Play to full potential
It may seem simple, but South Carolina is the most talented team in Columbia this weekend. Anything can happen in baseball, but if the Gamecocks put together their best game each time they step onto the field, there's no reason they shouldn't advance. Webb and Hill were more than effective against SEC competition all year, as was the bullpen. Even though the offense struggled at times, the team was able to put up enough runs to win 20 games in arguably the nation's best conference. It's no knock on Duke, UNCW or Rhode Island, but the Gamecocks are the cream of the crop in the regional. Unfortunately for South Carolina fans, the team has to prove it over the course of the next four games, or the offseason will be spent wondering what might have been.