With national seed hopes diminishing, changes coming for Gamecocks
HOOVER, ALA.—Coming into this week needing what experts said to be one more win to lock up a top-eight national seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Gamecocks watched the hope likely slip out of their grasp Thursday.
South Carolina (42-15, 20-11 SEC) was eliminated from the SEC Tournament with a 4-1 loss to Texas A&M, and national seed hopes likely stay in Hoover, Alabama with the teams remaining.
The Gamecocks have now lost eight straight games in Hoover.
“I won’t blame it on the park or the location,” outfielder Gene Cone said. “You’re just playing good SEC teams. You’re not going to win every game, that’s how it works. Braden gave us a chance to win out there today. We just didn’t string enough hits together to get a win.”
And with the team an almost lock to host a regional next weekend, the Gamecocks will try and remedy some issues that have plagued them during the backstretch of the season.
The bottom third of the order combined to go 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts Thursday and the team as a whole hit 5-for-33 (.152) and hit 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. John Jones continues his slump, going 0-for-2 with two strikeouts before being pinch-hit for in the sixth inning.
After the game, head coach Chad Holbrook said lineup changes could come before the regional starts next weekend.
“There’s rosters on the table,” he said. “We have to make contact, especially left handed hitters against right-handed pitchers, we have to move the ball. I got to put guys in there who can fight, scratch and claw to get on base or bunt or do something productive in there besides striking out. I have to shake some things up.”
Since the spring semester ended and students aren’t in school anymore, there are no practice restrictions for teams. During school terms, teams can only practice up to 20 hours a week.
That’s something Holbrook said he’s going to take full advantage of.
“We’ll probably have two-a-days three or four days in a row,” he said. “I’m going to make them as sick of me as I possibly can and hopefully they’ll be excited to see another opponent.”
South Carolina will find out who they’ll host Monday during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show. With hosting a Super Regional likely out, the team will have to travel for the second round of the tournament.
Since 2000, the Gamecocks are 9-1 in Regionals at home and 1-4 in Super Regionals on the road. In the same span, they have gone 21-29 in Hoover. They have also won two national championships as well.
In 2010, the first national championship year, South Carolina won a Super Regional at Coastal Carolina to punch its College World Sereis ticket.
“Since 2010 I have as many national championship rings as I do wins in Hoover,” Holbrook said. “That’s pretty incredible stats. That shows how hard it is to win here. I’d like to perform well here to create momentum for next week. This isn’t any fun at all. That being said, it doesn’t dictate how well we’ll play next week. History dictates that.”
With over a week now before NCAA Tournament play starts, Holbrook and the Gamecocks have a chance to take a breather and get back to playing South Carolina baseball, he said.
And with the team getting in tonight, they’ll have a full week of preparation to be ready to play on Friday, something Holbrook guarantees will happen.
“We’ll head home. Some guys need a little bit of rest mentally and to get their bodies recovered a bit, and that being said some guys need to be kicked in the tail. We’ll try to find a line and do a little bit of both,” Holbrook said. “We’ll be ready to go next Friday.”
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