Gamecocks In Search Of Answers After Being Swept By Kentucky

South Carolina's Baseball team has found themselves in uncharted territory after being swept by the Kentucky Wildcats.

If somebody was asked to describe the South Carolina Gamecocks on the baseball diamond, at this current moment, you would hear words and phrases like battered, out-of-sync, struggling, amongst others. Some of the issues over the past couple of weekends are out of the team's control, with three starting infielders missing multiple weekends in conference, forcing South Carolina to take drastic measures like moving their starting catcher in Cole Messina to third base.

There's other issues, however, that are completely and totally self-inflicted and there's no area that backs up this notion more than the pitching staff. Public knowledge would lead people to believe that coming into the Auburn series over a week ago, South Carolina was only down one starting pitcher in Noah Hall, which while certainly a blow to the team, shouldn't make or break the team's performance the rest of the season. After what we've all witnessed over the past two weekends, it might be foolish to fall in line with that assumption.

Over the past six SEC games, South Carolina's starting rotation has given up the following:

Hits: 33

Earned Runs: 25

Walks: 16

Hit-By-Pitches/Wild Pitches: 11

This is the exact opposite from what Gamecock fans have seen from this group before this recent stretch. One could opine that the pitching staff is feeling the collective pressure to go out and perform at a high level due to what's going on with their teammates in the field and batting lineup.

The team could also be going through a phase where the injuries are becoming reminiscent of last year's tumultuous season to the point where they're saying to themselves "here we go again". Whatever the case may be, head coach Mark Kingston and pitching coach Justin Parker will have to possibly tinker with some other pitchers this next week, because as losses begin to pile up, South Carolina's postseason resumé will begin to lose the luster it held three weeks ago.

The batting lineup, however, also needs to step up, as while players like Will Tippett have rose to the occasion in their expanded role, the Gamecocks have to find ways to be more consistent at the plate to take some of the pressure off of the pitching staff. South Carolina will take the field on Tuesday night for a midweek matchup with the North Florida Ospreys.

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