South Carolina took Game 1 of the collection from Kentucky on Friday.
Particular To The State
With solely two weekends remaining within the common season, the South Carolina baseball group is in harmful territory. The group’s postseason hopes are fading, and even a berth within the SEC event may very well be at stake.
On Friday, USC’s hitters — particularly middle-of-the-order bats Josiah Sightler and Andrew Eyster — did their finest to make sure the Gamecocks nonetheless have a playoff pulse.
Each Sightler and Eyster homered within the 11-3 series-opening win over Kentucky on Friday evening, creating a little bit extra distance between the Gamecocks (25-23, 11-14 SEC) and the Wildcats (26-22, 9-16) within the SEC standings.
That separation is vital, as solely 12 of the SEC’s 14 groups will make the journey to the SEC event in Hoover, Alabama in two weeks. As of now, USC leads a cluster of groups within the backside of the SEC standings, together with the Wildcats, however a poor end to the season may spell bother.
Coming off a Tuesday evening loss to USC Upstate — one more debilitating blow to USC’s postseason resume — the Gamecocks seemingly let loose some frustration on the plate Friday. Eyster began the scoring with a two-out single within the first inning, whereas Sightler broke the sport open an inning later with a three-run house run. Different standouts included freshman shortstop Michael Braswell, who went 4-for-4 and hit a three-run double, and third baseman Jalen Vasquez, who hit his first profession house run.
That offensive success continues a current pattern of manufacturing on the plate for the Gamecocks, who hit .348 with seven homers and 40 hits in three video games final weekend at Texas A&M. However the group’s lack of pitching depth saved the Gamecocks from ending off the Aggies at School Station, the place USC misplaced two of three.
USC was a lot stronger on the mound Friday. Proper-hander Brett Thomas allowed simply two runs — one earned — in 4 innings to set the tone, whereas freshman Cade Austin threw three scoreless innings behind him.
The Wildcats got here to Columbia red-hot, after upsetting No. 1 Tennessee for a collection win final weekend. However very similar to the Gamecocks, Kentucky is preventing for a postseason berth. Kentucky slots at No. 57 within the RPI, in comparison with No. 68 for the Gamecocks. Neither group made the reduce for D1 Baseball’s most recent NCAA tournament projections.
USC baseball remaining schedule
This story was initially printed Might 13, 2022 10:16 PM.
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