What The Gamecocks Said After Their Loss To LSU
The South Carolina Gamecocks have taken one step forward and one step backwards in their first two days in Hoover, as they followed up their dominating victory over the Georgia Bulldogs with a frustrating loss to the LSU Tigers in a game that got away from them on both sides of the plate. Issues like self-inflicted errors on the mound and consistently missed opportunities at the plate resurfaced, and when a team who's not at full strength faces a consensus Top 8 team in LSU, the margin of error isn't big enough to account for all of those aforementioned factors.
That margin of error might be even smaller moving forward, as star catcher Cole Messina left the game in the third inning after he was found be suffering from the after-effects of a foul ball that bounced right off his face mask in the second inning.
"He got a foul tip and it jolted him a little bit, so he's in concussion protocol," Kingston stated after the game. "We'll have to evaluate that day-to-day [moving forward]."
One bright spot in the Gamecocks' freshman sensation Ethan Petry, who looked much like the Ethan Petry that was in running for SEC Freshman of the Year on Wednesday, who battled with every at-bat and reached base twice, including solo homer in the fifth inning. Overall, however, South Carolina wasn't able to bring baserunners home like they did against Georgia, which Petry attributed to the Tigers' pitching staff.
"Their pitchers [were] making pitches, they got elite pitchers, and we tried to do too much with them."
The Gamecocks now find themselves in a win or go home situation set for Thursday morning, as they'll play the loser of the matchup between Arkansas and Texas A&M. If they wish to have an extended stay in hoover, they'll have to find more positive consistency in terms of their play on the field.
"We know what we look like when we're playing our best," Mark explained. "Offensively we need length in our lineup, we need guys that are taking quality at-bats, and we've done that some as of late, but not as much as we need to, but [on] the [defensive side], we've made all the routine plays. It's just a matter of putting it all together."
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