Gamecocks' Starting Pitching Displays Hope In Midst Of Recent Debacle
Mark Kingston and his ball club left Fayetteville on Sunday afternoon on the losing end for the third consecutive conference series. South Carolina continues to struggle putting together a complete performance in all three phases of the game; pitching, hitting, and fielding. However, there was one aspect that played out in the Gamecocks' favor this past weekend: their starting pitching.
Despite not having either Will Sanders or Noah Hall make the trip due to injury, the Gamecocks largely kept themselves within striking distance in each game thanks to performances of Eli Jones, Jack Mahoney, and Matthew Becker, who combined to pitch 17 and two-thirds of innings and gave up six earned runs. This stat line is even more impressive because it was the longest and second longest outing of Eli Jones and Jack Mahoney's careers, respectively, with Eli making only his second career SEC start on the mound.
One could make the case that Cole Messina being back at catcher was pivotal in keeping these pitchers calm in a hostile road environment in Baum-Walker. Still, it felt like each starting pitcher, particularly Jones and Mahoney, was on their "A-game" from start to finish. It's a welcome sight for a South Carolina ball club coming off an SEC series against Kentucky, where they gave up twelve earned runs and had only one starting pitcher last longer than four innings.
While the Gamecocks certainly still have a lot to clean up in other areas, the fans are beginning to see glimpses of the pitching talent that South Carolina possesses, talent that in the preseason led many to believe it could spearhead a deep postseason run for the garnet and black. If the Gamecocks can continue to get healthy and find a way to get back in winning form against Charlotte, Tennessee, and the rest of their SEC counterparts in Hoover, there's no reason to think they couldn't be a serious threat come postseason time.
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