HOOVER, AL: Louisiana lightning struck South Carolina for a second time in the SEC Tournament Saturday afternoon. Thursday, the Gamecocks lost a four run lead against LSU in an 11-10 loss. Saturday, they led 8-0 going to the bottom of the fourth, but that wasn’t enough of a cushion as the Tigers rallied for a 12-11 win on a walk-off two run homer by Steven Milam in the bottom of the tenth.
How we got to that ending was one incredible ride for both teams and included a tenth inning ruling by the umpires that gave USC new life and led to the ejection of LSU coach Jay Johnson.
USC dominated the first half of the game building an 8-0 through their first four at bats. Dalton Reeves hit an opposite field three run homer in the third inning for a 4-0 lead. The Gamecocks doubled that lead the next inning on a sacrifice fly by Blake Jackson, an RBI single by Cole Messina and a two-run single by Parker Noland. Meantime, USC starter Roman Kimball kept LSU off the board scattering three hits over the first three innings.
But the Tigers erupted for sixth runs after two were out in the bottom of the fourth to get back into the game. After giving up a run and then walking the next batter, Kimball was replaced by Drake Quinn. He walked in a run and gave up a two run single. Eli Jones was summoned from the bullpen and yielded an RBI single down the third base line. Leftfielder Kennedy Jones misplayed the ball allowing the sixth run to score.
The Gamecocks responded with two runs in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Messina and a RBI single by Noland for a 10-6 lead. The Tigers got one run back in the bottom of the inning on a homer by Jared Jones, his 25th of the season. LSU drew closer in the bottom of the seventh with two runs including a home run by former Gamecock Michael Braswell.
The Gamecocks took that 10-9 lead to the bottom of the ninth and called on Garrett Gainey to close out the game, but he got into immediate trouble with a leadoff double. A sacrifice bunt to third followed and Lee Ellis, who replaced Talmadge LeCroy at the position in the fifth, overthrew Ethan Petry at first for an error that allowed the tying run to score. Gainey was able to escape without further damage, and the game moved to the tenth.
With two out in the top of the tenth, Blake Jackson drew a walk and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. The second one was on ball four to Messina, so the Gamecocks had first and third with two outs. Then came one of the most bizarre events in SEC Tournament history.
Jackson attempted to steal home but was thrown out easily by the pitcher for what appeared to be the third out of the inning. However, Gamecock coach Mark Kingston asked the umpires to come together and discuss if the LSU catcher had stepped on or in front of the plate before receiving the ball. They did confer, and they agreed that, indeed, that had happened.
By rule, it’s catcher interference and a balk, so Jackson was given home plate for the Gamecocks’ 11th run and Noland, who was batting, was awarded first base. Messina later stole third, but the baserunners were stranded on a ground out to second by Dylan Brewer.
Needless to say, the partisan LSU crowd wanted no part of that decision and let the umps hear it. However, their mood quickly changed to euphoria with the walk-off two-run blast in the bottom of the tenth off Gainey (1-4).
Despite the loss, it was an uplifting week for the Gamecocks. Coming off a six game losing streak, not much was expected of them in Hoover, yet they went 3-2 with wins over Alabama, Arkansas and Kentucky, and two one run losses to the defending national champions. That will be good enough to get them into a regional on Monday.
And there was the individual performance of Messina who leaves Hoover with a tournament record 16 RBIs. He hit .562 with four home runs, and he was walked eight times.
But the fielding and base running errors prevalent this week by the Gamecocks will need to be addressed in practice next week if they expect to win regional games. The Gamecocks committed 12 errors that led to 10 unearned runs. The 12 errors tied the SEC Tournament record.
USC is now 36-23 and will learn their regional assignment on Monday shortly after Noon.
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It is so painful to watch gamecock baseball this year, one of the worst pitching staffs and a terrible coach, yes they made a good run but they need a Coaching change