South Carolina sees fourth-straight game against Florida as advantage
Knowing South Carolina needs to win the SEC Tournament to make it into an NCAA Regional, Saturday was mostly about lining up the pitching.
The Gamecocks did—while also securing a 4-1 win to snap a four-game losing streak—setting up Will Sanders to start Tuesday in Hoover.
And he’ll be doing it against an incredibly familiar opponent: the same Florida Gators team South Carolina just played.
South Carolina will play a single-elimination game against the Gators at approximately 2 p.m. ET Tuesday, something Sanders sees as an advantage going into it.
“Today was interesting,” Sanders said. “I was battling some stuff but it worked out for me. Tuesday, I know if I can execute my stuff it’ll end well for me.”
The plan was to limit Sanders’s pitch count Saturday, using his start almost as a bullpen session.
He was largely inefficient in one inning of work, punching out three but walking two in a 28-pitch scoreless inning.
The South Carolina righty certainly has to be better, and he has been in SEC play. He has a 4.24 ERA in 57.1 innings in 10 SEC starts.
“I don’t think they saw the best of Will,” “This has been a season of whatever you think is going to happen the opposite happens. So I can’t predict anything. I know Will is one of our best guys, one of the best guys in the country.”
Where the Gamecocks (27-27, 13-17 SEC) will absolutely need to improve against this Florida team is at the plate.
South Carolina slashed .167/.231/.333 against the Gators and had the same number of runs (4) and hits (8) in game three as they did the first two games combined.
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“Just have to swing at our pitches. When we do get our pitches don’t miss it,” Josiah Sightler said. “That’s when the offense gets going and that’s when momentum carries over to the next guy. That’s what we have to do.”
Sightler does think getting to see this Florida staff again will help the Gamecocks offensively.
The Gators threw four different relievers and could likely see right-hander Brandon Sproat to start the game. Sproat threw 86 pitches and gave up two earned on four hits Thursday night.
“I would say it’s probably an advantage,” Sightler said. “We have the scouting report on them but we just got done playing them and we know what to expect. We saw a lot of their arms. As an offense that helps us out a lot.”
A win would send South Carolina into the double-elimination portion of the bracket but a loss would give the Gamecocks their first losing season since 1996.
It’s been a long year for the Gamecocks, battling a slew of pitching injuries and inconsistent offensive performances.
“I’ll say it’s probably in the back of our minds,” Sightler said. “But we just push it off. We’re still going to do the best we can. A lot didn’t go our way this year but we don’t pay it much attention.”
