Missed opportunities lead to South Carolina's 7th straight loss as Tennessee sweeps

South Carolina didn’t have any trouble getting into good situations on Sunday. The offense recorded double-digit hits for the third straight game. That was never the problem.

The real issue is what came of those innings when they had a chance to do some damage. Every starter in the Gamecocks’ lineup finished with at least one hit. But they left 11 runners on base in a 7-2 loss to No. 1 Tennessee, resulting in another sweep.

With this being the team’s seventh straight defeat, South Carolina (17-12, 1-8 SEC) will close out the month of March with an 8-11 record. Nobody was happier to turn the page to April than head coach Paul Mainieri.

“I don’t care if you’re playing the Yankees seven times in a row,” Mainieri said. “Just to lose seven games in a row, it’s very discouraging when that happens. Disappointing, not discouraging, disappointing.”

The problems began in the first inning after the first three hitters of the game all reached base. South Carolina took an early 1-0 lead after Jase Woita ripped an RBI single into left field. With nobody out, it looked poised to deliver an early blow to the Vols’ chances of sweeping. But the next three batters went down to come away with nothing more.

There were other points in the game where the Gamecocks had their chances to cash in but came up with zeroes. In the fourth, the first two batters reached base on back-to-back singles. But just like before, Tennessee right-hander Tegan Kuhns escaped trouble and got the next three outs.

Of all the opportunities the offense had, its best chance came in the fifth after Ethan Petry was hit by a 0-2 pitch to load the bases with no outs. Even though Tennessee just turned the game over to its bullpen, scoring at least one run felt like a given at this point.

But after Woita struck out and Kennedy Jones hit into a double play, the inning was over in a hurry. Just like before, the Gamecocks were headed back to the dugout with nothing to show for their efforts to get runners on base.

“It’s the difference between winning and losing. It’s the clutch hitting,” Mainieri said. “I mean, I’ve been coaching for 40 years, nothing’s changed. Do all the metrics we want. The guys are the teams that rise up and come through in the clutch situations, generally, are the teams that win today. We didn’t.”

While the offense finished with 10 hits, only one went for extra bases. South Carolina went 5-for-21 (.238) with runners on and 3-for-13 (.231) with runners in scoring position, while grounding into three double plays.

Compared to the previous two games, where Mainieri felt the team fought hard to the end to try and win, he didn’t sense the same attitude in the series finale. It wasn’t due to the mood in the dugout or Tennessee taking the wind out of the sails with another strong offensive showing. More than anything, South Carolina couldn’t bring home enough runs to win the game.

“We didn’t have people coming through clutch situations,” he said. “I just described the bases loaded, nobody out situation, and you got your three and four-hole hitters coming up. I mean, those guys are supposed to drive in the runs for you, and they didn’t.”

And now, after a 1-8 start to begin SEC play, the hole that’s been dug is plenty deep. The Gamecocks’ toughest tests against the top two teams in the country are done. As the new month begins, they’ll start with two straight weekend series on the road. But before that, there’s still a midweek game to be played.

“We’re going to treat Tuesday like it’s the seventh game in the World Series,” Mainieri said. “Whatever it takes to win, we need to win a baseball game. Whatever it takes. We’re not holding anything back, and we’re gonna go out there and play as hard and as well as we possibly can to attempt to win a game.”

Up next: South Carolina will host Presbyterian on Tuesday at Founders Park. First pitch is at 7 p.m. on SEC Network.

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