1 week Ago
At Lexington, Ky., South Carolina somehow left a series at Kentucky worse than it usually does. It's almost always been a ballpark where the Gamecocks simply do not win, and they didn't this weekend, losing an April 27 game 11-5 to finish a 1-2 series.
But now they're missing much more. Star slugger Ethan Petry, an All-American outfielder chasing fabled Lowcountry basher Justin Smoak for No. 1 on the school's career home runs list, crashed into the outfield wall pursuing a fly ball on April 26 and was unable to finish the series.
He had his left arm in a sling as he watched his teammates win the middle game without him and while he didn't have it for the final game, he was unable to play. Coach Paul Mainieri said that Petry will get an MRI on his shoulder on April 28 upon return to Columbia, and that he believes the injury is to the shoulder and not the collarbone. Petry tried to cut off a veering fly ball and hit the wall.
He stayed in the game, but on his next at-bat, he grabbed his left shoulder after swinging. Petry is hitting .329 with 34 RBIs, second on the team, with a team-high 10 homers.
If he's out for any length of time, another nail is in place in the coffin lid over this season. By falling to 25-20, 5-16 SEC, the Gamecocks have to go at least 8-1 over their final three SEC series to have a hope of making the postseason. The cutoff line has usually been 13-17 in conference, although some 12-win teams have made it.
It's either that or win the automatic bid that goes with winning the SEC Tournament, an event the Gamecocks haven't won since 2004. They have almost always been quick to leave the tournament, although they stuck around for a while last year. USC's all-time worst SEC mark is 8-22, set in 2019, Mark Kingston's second season as coach.
It was a familiar story in the final game at Kentucky. The Gamecocks' pitching couldn't get them out of one big inning. The Wildcats scored five in the fourth to put the game to bed.
In a 1-1 game, starter Dylan Eskew gave up a single but the runner was erased when Gavin Braland caught him stealing second base. Yet Eskew walked his next man. Mainieri went to the bullpen for Jackson Soucie, who gave up a single on what could have been a double-play ball.
Kentucky then executed a double-steal and Ryan Schwartz hit a two-run single. The dust settled and it was 6-1. The Gamecocks clawed back with two runs in the sixth inning and two more in the eighth, but KJ Scobey was thrown out at the plate trying to get two bases on Jase Woita's pinch-hit single.
Third-base coach Monte Lee waved Scobey despite the left fielder winding up to throw before Scobey rounded third. That left two men on when two had already scored. The top of the order was due up.
But Kentucky loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame, scored on an infield hit, benefited from a bases-loaded walk and then scored two more on a single. The Gamecocks host Charleston Southern on April 29 and then Florida for a three-game series beginning on May 2. The Gators (8-13 SEC) are chasing their own postseason berth after a dreadful start to the season, but have recently gotten back on the horse.
After beginning 1-11 in the league, Florida got the benefit of playing league-worst Missouri and then Mississippi State, worse than anybody but USC and Missouri, in back-to-back series. The Gators went 5-1 in those games, then beat No. 5 Arkansas in two of three games this weekend.
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