South Carolina Must Reference Charlotte Loss Moving Forward

South Carolina's Baseball team must refocus themselves ahead of a big series against Missouri after suffering just their second loss of the season to Charlotte.

Entering Tuesday's matchup against Charlotte with a 20-1 record, the Gamecocks felt supremely confident against their C-USA opponent. Despite the high spirits, Charlotte came away with a 6-2 win, snapping the Gamecocks' 11-game win streak.

Considering the fact that the Gamecocks were the hottest team in college baseball and jumped 12 spots in the rankings in the two weeks leading up to this game, the loss to a sub-.500 49ers team served as a reminder of how fickle baseball can be. Though the loss to Charlotte was disappointing, the Gamecocks have a chance to capitalize on their mistakes and come out as a stronger team.

Baseball is a game of mistakes, and losing is inevitable, no matter how strong you believe your team may or not be. With just one loss before Tuesday, it is easy for a team like the Gamecocks to become complacent in spite of the importance of maintaining the drive and focus they entered the season with. Luckily for South Carolina, a jarring loss like Tuesday evening can help refocus a team.

South Carolina enters a crucial series this weekend against Missouri, currently one of the hottest teams in all of college baseball. The Gamecocks come into the matchup as the higher-ranked team and the team with the better record, though Missouri is coming off of a sweep against Tennessee and looking to prove everyone who doubted them pre-season wrong.

It's easy to come into a contest over-confident because you are on a 12-game win streak. Luckily South Carolina doesn't have that luxury, as they'll have to fix things quickly to get back in the win column, with the red-hot Missouri Tigers coming into Columbia, SC for a weekend series.

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