Everything Paul Mainieri said after South Carolina's 8-1 loss to LSU on Friday

South Carolina head baseball coach Paul Mainieri spoke to the media following the team’s 8-1 loss to LSU on Friday. Here’s everything he had to say.

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Opening statement

“Well, it was pretty much a one-sided game tonight. Kind of the story of a lot of games we’ve had this year, we just gave up home runs you know on defense and didn’t hit any on offense.

“Kade Anderson is what he looks like – a first round pick. He kind of dazzled us tonight, mixing his pitches and struck out several batters. We had a couple opportunities, just couldn’t capitalize on it. You’re not going to get a lot of opportunities against a guy like him. He walked two in his last inning, but typically, he’s not going to give you a lot of free passes.

“We had a couple opportunities, didn’t cash in. And then, they hit three home runs that accounted for much of their scoring. So, it was pretty much the story of the game.”

On whether Dylan Eskew will be starting for South Carolina on Saturday

“Yeah, Dylan [Eskew] will be pitching.”

On how Kade Anderson caused problems for the Gamecocks

“He’s just really good. Obviously, I know the kid well. I recruited him to LSU when he was a 10th grader. And you just look at what he’s done this year for their team. He’s been one of the top pitchers in the conference – and therefore, in the country – and he’s a for-sure first round pick. He threw 94, had two good breaking balls. And he just doesn’t walk anybody, makes you hit the ball.

“They made all the plays. Consequently, they shut us down offensively; and conversely, we gave up the three home runs. We walked I don’t know how many batters – seven, eight, nine batters – and hit by pitch at least one, I know. So, 10 free passes. And that’s a formula for not having a very good night. So, wasn’t our night tonight.”

On Jake McCoy’s struggles with command

“Every individual is different. He’s a young kid with a good arm, and sometimes, it’s just hard for him to corral it. It’s not even just the walks. He falls behind in the count so often, and then, he has to lay one in there. I think at least one home run was on a 3-1 count – I can’t remember what the count was on the other one he gave up. But he just falls behind.

“I don’t think he had a clean inning in his five innings. He had three shutout innings, but we were able to get him out of jams. I mean, it was never a 1-2-3 inning.

“So, he’s just got to grow and get better as he goes on. He’s got talent; he’s got the arm. He’s a good athlete, and he’s just got to learn to corral it a little bit more. Hopefully, that comes with maturity and experience.”

On what winning a series over LSU would mean for South Carolina

“We got a tough challenge tomorrow. Their starting pitcher tomorrow [Anthony Eyanson] is as good as Kade is; he’s just right-handed. But you look at his statistics, they’re very similar to Kade’s – averages almost two strikeouts an inning. So, we got a tough challenge ahead of us, and Dylan will have to be at his very best.

“But if, somehow, we can pull it off, it would be wonderful. To win a series against the No. 1 team in the country, it would assure us of an above-.500 season. I know those seem like small accomplishments, but we’re going to come out tomorrow and give it our all.”

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