South Carolina looking to take offensive approach on the road to Gainesville

On3 imageby:Collyn Taylor06/08/23

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Numbers sometimes don’t tell the full story on how a team looked on the field, and that’s especially true for South Carolina coming off a regional win. 

The Gamecocks certainly put up the numbers to show real offensive progress–41 runs and hitting over .350 as a team over three games–but they passed the eye test with flying colors. 

Not only did South Carolina put up numbers akin to what it was doing in March and April, the offense looked like it did back then too. Now they have to take it on the road and face a very good Florida pitching staff. 

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“It’s the same offense. We’re going to stick to our approach no matter who we’re facing. It’s worked all year,” Cole Messina said. “I don’t think there’s a reason to change who we are and try to do too much. Just stick to our roots. That’s all we can do.”

The Gamecocks hit .357/.507/.557 as a team, walked 30 times to 31 strikeouts. Of the 41 hits in the regional, 13 also went for extra bases. 

There was a willingness to hit the ball opposite field, something that had been lacking over the last month.

Things tick up this weekend against a Florida pitching staff that’s really good and has three potential first-round picks in its rotation. 

The Gators allowed just eight runs over 44 innings over the regional weekend, striking out 48 to 13 strikeouts. Florida starters (31 innings), had a 1.45 ERA with a .968 WHIP. 

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“I felt like facing Campbell that last game was a really good test for us. They had a couple of arms up to 95 and 96. We’re going to face 99, maybe 100 this weekend. It was good to see everyone making hard contact,” Ethan Petry said. 

“It had to have been a record with the fewest swings and misses we’ve had in a game against Campbell. And It was good to see not a lot of guys striking out and putting the ball in play.”

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Two wins in Gainesville means South Carolina is off to the College World Series for the first time in a decade. But it won’t be easy. 

Florida comes in as the favorite with analytics giving the Gators a close but slight edge over the Gamecocks this weekend. 

If South Carolina can hit like it did the last weekend, though, it does have a shot at going down there and taking two. 

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“It’s big. Hitting’s contagious and you can build on momentum and confidence,” Braylen Wimmer said. “It’s big, for sure.”

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