South Carolina still confident in abilities while fighting for regional host spot
South Carolina coaches and players know the situation they’re in as the regular season comes to an end.
Three weeks ago, the Gamecocks were a surefire national seed and had an argument as one of the best teams in the country. Fast-forward 12 games and South Carolina is 3-9 and a paltry 2-7 in the SEC heading into a Tennessee series fighting for a top 16 seed.
It’s something everyone in the building knows, although the Gamecocks aren’t harping on it with three regular-season games left.
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“They all have phones and they’re all on the internet all the time. They’re all on social media. That stuff is front and center for them. They know that without us having to tell them,” Mark Kingston said. “We don’t say any of that to our players. We just get them ready to play. That’s what we do.”
South Carolina is projected to host right now but it’s not a guarantee heading into a pivotal stretch run. The Gamecocks’ metrics are good: No. 5 in the RPI, No. 7 in strength of schedule and 20-14 in the first two quadrants.
The 18 Quad 1 wins are tied for third-most in the country with Vanderbilt. Only Kentucky (20) and Arkansas (19) have more.
The challenge now is getting to a place where the overall win total (37 currently) and SEC record (15-11) match the metrics.
A series win over a hot Tennessee team could help firmly plant South Carolina as a host before heading to Hoover for the SEC Tournament. A series loss could put the Gamecocks on the wrong side of the hosting bubble with work to do next week.
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“It’s going to be interesting. I saw that Alabama softball got the overall No. 5 national seed in the softball tournament. They finished fifth in the SEC. that’s an interesting precedent. If you look at our metrics, they’re off the charts,” Kingston said.
“After last night it’s a No. 5 RPI, I think it’s a No. 5 strength of schedule. We have the third-most Quadrant 1 wins in the country. The metrics are off the chart there. Where we finish in the league is going to be something interesting they look at.”
The Gamecocks have to try and regroup quickly to play a Tennessee team that could work itself into the hosting argument as well.
It’s been a tough slog for South Carolina with seven losses of its last eight games and limping to the finish line to end the regular season.
But the optimism at least inside the program hasn’t wavered.
“If you go into that locker room we’re the same team. Nothing’s really changed that much. Obviously, we have things we need to work on and things that need to be polished before the end of the season,” Talmadge LeCroy said.
“But I think we’re still capable of being the best team in the country. We have to see some things fall for us and it’ll all work out.”
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Injury update
South Carolina hasn’t yet released its pitching rotation this weekend but Will Sanders will not be in it. He won’t pitch this weekend with a lower-body injury but Kingston said the hope is within the next week or two the right-hander will be in a position to help.
Eli Jerzembeck will not pitch again this year for the Gamecocks. Will McGillis still needs rest recovering from a broken arm. He hit for the first time in-game Tuesday and re-aggravated the injury then left the game. He had an X-ray Wednesday and Kingston said there’s no re-break but he’ll need some time to rest.
Braylen Wimmer and LeCroy–still dealing with hamstring injuries–are still in the lineup and fighting through those.
“They fighting. They know the situation we’re in and know we need them. We’re not at full capacity,” Kingston said. “The guys with hamstrings are still protecting their hamstrings. But they’re tough kids and want to be out there. They know we need them.”
Kingston didn’t firmly say if Wimmer–the team’s everyday shortstop–would play in the field this weekend but mentioned they’re going to be smart with that just over two weeks (16 days) from the NCAA Tournament.
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Since returning against Arkansas Wimmer’s only been the designated hitter. Chris Veach is also dealing with a hip injury. Kingston said it shouldn’t keep him out of the Tennessee series but he’s “day-to-day.”
“We have to target 16 days today and make sure we have the team out there on the field when there are only 64 teams still playing,” Kingston said. “We need to try and have the best team we can have out there and we have to make the best decisions in mind. There are going to be some short-term decisions but also some big-picture decisions.”
