Cole Messina after second win in Hoover: South Carolina is back to who we are

Cole Messina came through in a major way for South Carolina in Wednesday’s matchup against Arkansas, helping lead the Gamecocks’ second SEC Tournament win in as many days.

Carolina was ice cold coming into Hoover, losers of six straight and in need of some sort of positive momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament. Well, they’ve got it after consecutive victories over SEC No. 7 seed Alabama and then No. 2 seed Arkansas, who’s also ranked as a top-five team in the nation.

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In a tight battle vs. the Hogs, Messina provided the run support with several of his at bats, first knocking in an RBI single to give the Gamecocks a 2-1 lead in the top of the third. Then, Messina returned the lead to South Carolina again in the fifth inning with a two-run home run.

But darn it if Arkansas didn’t get two more back in the seventh to tie the game up again. However, Messina stepped into the box one more time in the ninth inning and provided another two-run homer, driving in Blake Jackson for the second time.

Arkansas still would not go gentle into that good night and made another push in the bottom of the ninth to add a quick run and make it a 6-5 game. The Razorbacks then managed to get a runner on third with two outs to put pressure on the Gamecocks defense to finish it off. Luckily, they did, catching a fly ball for the final out to hang on for victory.

After the win and his herculean performance at the plate, Cole Messina spoke on the rejuvenating weekend for the Gamecocks so far at the conference tourney.

“It’s been awesome,” he said. “I mean, it’s been fun to watch this team compete the way we have. And you know, had a rough six games before this tournament, and just kind of turn it all around in two games, and feel like we’re back to who we are and can make a run.”

If you can wipe out Alabama and Arkansas in back-to-back games, then certainly you can make a deep run in the postseason. After all, an Ole Miss squad that barely made the big dance wound up winning the whole thing a couple years back. There’s no reason why the Gamecocks can’t contend to do the same.

South Carolina now faces a similar lower-seeded team in the No. 11 seed LSU Tigers, who took down Georgia and Kentucky by a combined 20-1 score in their first two victories.