Jack's takes from one of the biggest wins of the year for South Carolina
To say this was a game South Carolina needed to have would be an understatement. The effect this potential win could have would be catastrophic.
Entering the first round of the SEC Tournament, the Gamecocks fell behind early against Alabama. But thanks to some timely offense and a great performance out of the bullpen, they picked up a 10-5 win on Tuesday to advance.
Here are my takes from the huge win.
The big picture
With this win, South Carolina is probably a safe bet to make the NCAA Tournament. The team now has 14 SEC wins, the No. 19 RPI, No. 7 strength of schedule and now 13 Quad I wins.
And the big thing is that the RPI will continue to rise as the Gamecocks keep playing. They’ll have at least two more games in Hoover, starting with Arkansas on Wednesday. Any wins from this point forward only help their case. And if they were to go winless in the next two, I don’t think it would really hurt their chances.
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But if they can keep winning, who’s to say they don’t make an argument for hosting a regional again? I know that probably sounds very far fetched but then again this season has been anything but sane.
I mean, if South Carolina were to get to Saturday or even championship Sunday, the RPI could move up into the top 16 if not higher. And there could be enough quality wins on the schedule to get the bid. But we’ll have to see what happens. The important thing right now is that this team should be making the cut in the selection show on Monday.
What a day for the offense
After falling behind 3-0 going into the third inning, this looked like familiar territory for the Gamecocks. Would this be another game where they went behind early and couldn’t get back in the fight? Well luckily, the offense didn’t take long to strike back.
Gavin Casas and Ethan Petry both launched solo shots in the inning to get within a run. Then the big blow came off the bat of Dalton Reeves, who hit the team’s first grand slam of the year to take a 6-3 lead.
From that point on, South Carolina never trailed again. Cole Messina continued to mash and stayed hot with a solo homer in the fifth then a two-run double with two outs in the sixth. I still cannot believe he didn’t make first team All-SEC. He’s definitely the best catcher in college baseball.
In total, the Gamecocks scored 10 runs on 14 hits to lock down the win. The heart of the order was about as good as it gets, finishing a combined 10-for-18 with four RBIs.
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Did Veach save the season? I think so
I said it in Leaving the Yard after the game, there’s no chance South Carolina wins this game without the heroics of Chris Veach.
After Matthew Becker pitched two good innings, Veach came into the game rather early, appearing in the fourth with one out. Kingston expected the right-hander to go maybe two or three innings and then use a few more pitchers to get the final outs of the game. But he didn’t even need to get anyone up in the bullpen after that.
Veach was about as good as he’s ever been at South Carolina. Sure, he’s had a ton of big moments, but none quite like Tuesday. He pitched the rest of the way, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings to secure the win. He struck out six without a walk and only gave up three hits.
After the game, Alabama’s players talked about how they expected Veach to throw the change-up more often than not. So they sat on it. And that was a big mistake. Veach recognized this and mixed up his pitches. He said he used a “slide-step fastball” in addition to the change-up. He was surprised he was able to get ahead in counts with his heater.
But it worked out with great success. He threw 67 pitches, so I wouldn’t expect him to pitch for a few days. But if the Gamecocks are in a pinch, you can expect Veach to be ready to go. That’s just who he’s always been for this team. A savior.
