Jack's takes from South Carolina's run rule win over Kentucky to secure series victory
Coming into the weekend, South Carolina needed to find a way to win its series with Kentucky. Mission accomplished with a cherry on top.
The Gamecocks took care of business on Sunday, winning 10-0 in seven innings. The win gives them an all important series victory over a top-five team, which is what they’ve been needing.
Here are my takes from what I believe was the most impressive win all year.
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Don’t give up on this team just yet
After this weekend, it’s safe to say there are a few less critics of South Carolina. And that’s what happens when you win. Everyone loves a winner.
Throughout this whole baseball season, this team always had the makings of being a very good one. It just took a little longer than expected to put it all together. But even through the ups and downs, the Gamecocks have always been in a pretty good spot, and they’ll be in an even better one now after this series.
I sound like a broken record when I say this but baseball is a long season. There were always going to be rough stretches throughout the year. Right now, though, South Carolina is playing good baseball and has been doing so for almost three weeks now, at least in my opinion.
The big thing I’m seeing is that the guys are having more fun, and you can tell Mark Kingston is as well. That’s how you know things are going well right now. The key will be to figure out how to keep the good times rolling. And it seems like the Gamecocks are getting hot at the right time.
Dylan Eskew was sensational
For the second straight weekend, Eskew pitched a gem in the series finale, this time leading the Gamecocks to the win on Sunday. His defense was so much better behind him, which works for a guy like him who can pitch to contact.
But he also did his job out there. The right-hander tossed 6.1 shutout innings, marking his longest outing of the year. He surrendered five hits, struck out two and walked one. It looks like he’s officially cracked the code on what works for him.
Honestly, I don’t expect Eskew to be named a starter in the weekend rotation when South Carolina heads to Missouri. I have a feeling Kingston will go with what he’s done the past two weeks: Roman Kimball, Eli Jones, TBA. Though, I’d flip Kimball and Jones. But that’s besides the point. Leaving Sunday as TBA is an element of surprise. Yeah, it’s probably a guarantee Eskew will start again next weekend, but this won’t give Missouri an advantage of expecting what’s coming.
At the same time, Eskew has certainly earned his place back in this rotation. After not having regulars to start after Jones, it looks like South Carolina has found at least one of those guys.
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Best lineup of the season? Oh yeah
As Kingston continues to mix and match to put the puzzle pieces together, it looks like he’s found a lineup combination that works super well. Here’s a look at the lineup he put out on Sunday.
- Austin Brinling, CF
- Ethan Petry, 1B
- Parker Noland, 2B
- Cole Messina, C
- Blake Jackson, RF
- Kennedy Jones, LF
- Dalton Reeves, DH
- Talmadge LeCroy, SS
- Gavin Casas, 3B
And for reference, he had the same starting nine on Saturday when they scored 13 runs, there was just a little bit of shuffling for game three. But I love the look of this lineup. He’s playing his best players right now and it features the right blend of power with contact bats and speed. And it’s obviously working as South Carolina scored 23 runs in the last two games of the series.
As for the defensive alignment, it also seems to work. Everyone in the infield played much better defense on Sunday. LeCroy looks natural at shortstop, Casas was better at third base, and Petry made some nice stops at first. Even Noland, who had a rough game in the field on Saturday, bounced back.
Kingston made a good point after Sunday’s game, when you’re able to get production from all parts of the order, especially the bottom of the lineup, you know things are working. Casas hitting ninth and swinging the bat well should say a lot about how deep this order can be.
