Less than a week ago Carolina fans were ready to give up on Gamecock baseball for the season. South Carolina was swept by Clemson and dropped their midweek game to a weak Xavier team 15-7.
As the days went by, the Texas series began to look like an easy sweep for the Longhorns. Texas entered the contest ranked number one in the country with notable wins over Tennessee and LSU (Both ranked in the top 15) and a roster filled with elite talent.
However, the Gamecocks found a way to prevail on Sunday’s double header in colossal fashion.
First off, although the Gamecocks dropped game one to the Longhorns, I would still argue that I was happy with the level of play that I saw during game one.
The Yardcocks put up five runs with an outstanding performance by Brandt Belk. Noah Hall put up a fight against the strong Texas lineup, but the Longhorns still put up seven runs against him and 14 hits with 9 total runs in the game.
Regardless, the Gamecocks performance in game one was more than likely enough to beat most ballclubs. Although they couldn’t win the game, with the same level of play throughout the season, the Gamecocks will find themselves in good shape.
In games two and three, South Carolina looked like a team that we have yet to have seen thus far. Will Sanders took care of business. Aside from one messy inning, he really gave it to the Texas lineup and was the main contributor in the 4-2 win.
Game three on the other hand was an elite performance by the Gamecocks all around. Freshman Matthew Becker allowed only one run with 11 strikeouts in 6 innings. An absolutely jaw dropping performance to say the least.
The Gamecocks answered Texas’s hitting performance in game 1 with a red-hot night of their own. They put up 14 hits and after the 6th inning found themselves up 8 runs.
We have been waiting for the Carolina team that showed up in games 2 and 3 for a long time now. Perhaps Texas had an all around off day and the double header contributed to their series loss.
Regardless, you still found a way to win the series against a red-hot lineup and an outstanding pitching rotation. Games such as the two on Sunday don’t happen entirely by accident. You still need to perform like a Top 25 ballclub at the very least to win those types of contests.
Looking ahead, the Gamecocks need to keep up the intensity. No more lackluster mid-week games and no more games where you don’t play as a complete team.
If the Gamecocks play as they did this weekend, the Xavier game and Clemson series will fade away rather quickly. Hopefully, come May, Carolina fans are no longer talking about these game and are instead bringing up big wins against strong SEC opponents.
Texas took care of Tennessee earlier in the season, so let’s once again play lights out and put them in the ground this weekend.