Jack's takes from South Carolina's second straight loss vs. Georgia
Things couldn’t be going much worse for South Carolina right now. The Gamecocks have now dropped their series with Georgia after losing the first two games.
This weekend hasn’t gone according to plan by any means. The Dawgs have been hitting super well, which has put South Carolina behind the eight ball in each game.
Here are my takes from the 11-5 loss on Friday.
The weekend rotation is a mess
At this point, who can South Carolina even count on to go out there and deliver a good start on the mound? It’s a genuine question because the starting pitching has been atrocious lately.
After Roman Kimball got lit up on Thursday, Eli Jones suffered a similar fate. The right-hander got two quick outs in the third inning before things fell apart. He gave up seven runs on 10 hits and struck out two. He only lasted three innings.
It’s no longer just something to shrug off. Jones and the rest of the rotation haven’t had it for weeks. We’re almost at the SEC Tournament and it’s safe to say the Gamecocks don’t have three starters to count on to go win a series. That’s a problem.
[GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]
After the game, Mark Kingston said Jones’ stuff hasn’t been as good as it was earlier in the year when asked about why he’s been struggling. I mean, that’s pretty obvious to anyone watching. But there’s definitely more to his struggles than just the fact that he hasn’t been good. And you hope he finds a way to get right. But it’s getting to the point where there isn’t time to wait and see.
When South Carolina heads into the postseason, I don’t see how it can consistently win games if the pitching is going to be like this. Your offense can only try to score so many runs. You need pitching to go deep.
Younger arms in bullpen were solid
If there were any bright spots on the pitching staff on Friday, Jake McCoy and Tyler Pitzer definitely did their part.
McCoy came in after Connor McCreery who really struggled out of relief. But the left-hander tossed 2.2 scoreless innings and gave up two hits. He struck out three and walked one. It was easily his best outing of the year so far. And that’s what he needs. When you’re able to strike out Charlie Condon, that should do wonders for the confidence.
Then with Pitzer, he went 2.1 innings of one-run ball, striking out one and walking two. He pitched into the ninth before being pulled at 36 pitches. After the game, I asked Kingston why he pulled him when he was doing so well. He basically said Matt Williams has a feel for when he’s out of gas and he knew he was there.
Looking to Saturday, the bullpen isn’t in great shape. You have some guys available. But it’s all going to depend on who gets the start.
[On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]
Disappointing weekend
At this point, I wouldn’t even worry about South Carolina hosting a regional in the postseason. Unless some crazy things happen over the next four games, I would expect Saturday to be the final home game of the season.
The Gamecocks had a shot to prove the projections wrong and win a big series to earn the right to host. But they’ve now dropped the first two games of the series and will try to avoid the sweep on Saturday. That’s not how many probably drew it up. However, that’s the reality of the situation.
Give credit where it’s due, Georgia is just a really solid team. It’s tough to have to make big comebacks after the pitching struggles against this loaded offense. You just hope something changes in game three.
So what does South Carolina need to do now? Just win. Find a way to not get swept. This fan base is already restless as it is after the first two games. Plus, a sweep wouldn’t help where it stands in RPI and all those metrics. Luckily, the Gamecocks have been good in game threes this season. We’ll just have to wait and see who they decide to start on the mound and how that works out.
