As Ron Morris wrote in The State today, the win versus the Florida Gators was a much needed one for numerous reasons from helping the RPI to helping the mind games. Going into post-season play, the Gamecocks concluded the 2010 regular season with a great season in my view as the Gamecocks sit at 43-13 overall and 21-9 in the SEC plus are the number three seed in the SEC tourney.
Yesterday, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Adam Matthews were the big bats. Bradley hit a grand slam while Matthews tallied three hits and homered for the second straight day as South Carolina defeated Florida 11-6. Yes, Florida won the series (Game 1 and Game 2) and the SEC regular season crown but now it is time for the part of the season that matters the most.
The Gamecocks have nothing to hold their hands low about as they had a great regular season run and ended in a very respectable manner. A little disappointed thought as I was confident going into the UF series because it was at home but after watching the game, UF was the better team. I was highly impressed with UF’s pitching especially their bullpen. I thought USC had a good one but there is one better. Their closer is lights out and when he came in during Game 2, I knew the impossible was in front of Carolina to mount a comeback. UF knows how to play the small ball and get the timely hits which in baseball means wins or losses.
USC did not play their best it seemed this past weekend with all the missed opportunities and hope that they can learn from it going into the clutch time of the season. USC has a well built team that has the goods to make a run at a CWS trip but the question is can they string it together in the important games?
***On another note, the LOHD team will be hosting a podcast tonight at 8pm to talk about USC baseball, JOIN US.
