Thursday , March 8, 2019
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Column: Gamecocks face tough task in St. Louis Harrison Belk
@HARRISONBELK
The 2018 SEC men’s basketball tournament gets underway on Wednesday just after the regular season came to a close this past weekend, which brings much anticipation for South Carolina and its fans. The Gamecocks are currently the No. 11 seed in the tournament, coming off a nine-point loss at Auburn on Saturday. This loss capped off an overall disappointing season for the 16-15 Gamecocks, especially after the run to the Final Four last season. Head coach Frank Martin reminded his team that it can be a difficult task to close out road games in the SEC. “It’s hard to win man,” Martin said. “This is a hard league, our guys, they fought.” For the Gamecocks to win in the SEC tournament, it is imperative that Chris Silva stay out of foul trouble as guards contest drives to the basket, which will hopefully prevent turnovers. Gamecock fans were able to witness how the accumulation of those factors led to the Auburn loss as Silva fouled out, Hassani Gravett was beat on the first
step many times and the Gamecocks allowed 12 steals. South Carolina will take on Ole Miss in the opening round at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, following the first game tipping at 7 p.m. The Gamecocks have been unsuccessful in their conference tournament recently, going one-and-done the past two seasons. South Carolina lost its only regular season matchup with Ole Miss, but Martin acknowledged that the Gamecocks have made unbelievable progress this season and that the SEC tournament can be very unpredictable. “It’s crazy, who knows what’s going to happen ... it should be a lot of fun,” Martin said. The Gamecocks will likely lose in the second round or quarterfi nals where they would play Arkansas or Florida respectively. Both of those teams would have full rest to rely on. There is much excitement from Martin and his team as they wait to prove themselves in the tournament and struggle to live up to the expectations fans set during the preseason. Getting back to the Final Four has been
a goal for the Gamecocks, but if they get out of the SEC tournament early, they may not even make the big dance at all. Even though they hoped for a different outcome, the Gamecocks still believe anything can happen. “Too many people judge basketball teams based on their records,” Martin expressed. South Carolina has shown glimpses of greatness through the season, even beating then No. 11 Auburn at home. The Gamecocks must play at their highest level to win five games in a row and take home the tournament title.
Tori Richman / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
South Carolina regains momentum against N.C. A&T Shelby Beckler @SBECKLER13
The South Carolina baseball team can say goodbye to its t wo-game losing skid as the Gamecock offense once again came alive to defeat North Carolina A&T Wednesday night, 12-2. “Today could have easily been a game that you come out flat after the excitement of the emotion of this past weekend,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “I thought we did a great job of trying to play a complete game and try and get some momentum back.” The Gamecocks entered Wednesday’s game with just one win against rival Clemson and a loss from midweek game against Furman. This created motivation for South Carolina to come out and compete. Despite t he slow start against the Bulldogs, the Gamecocks were quickly able to find their rhythm as a team. Senior Jonah Bride showed his leadership skills and playing abilities Wednesday while competing against a resilient North Carolina A&T team. Bride went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs in the win and ultimately was the one to
start shifting the momentum of the game, allowing the Gamecocks to score a run in every inning after the third. “I just want to help this team win,” Bride said. “But I thought that after we got that one guy out, the approach became much better, really everybody was taking a good at bat up there, it really showed tonight.” It wasn’t just Bride who made a notable break in the game for South Carolina — TJ Shook, who pitched and relief and got his first win of the season, also made major contributions to the win. Kingston acknowledged Shook’s improvements on the field, especially the ones that were showed against the Bulldogs in their victory. “I’ve been ver y impressed with TJ,” Kingston said. “To me, he really commands the bottom of the zone, maybe as well as anybody that we have. His fast ball is up in that 91 range and he throws a lot of balls at the knees, and that makes you a valuable pitcher at this level.” For Shook, Wednesday was a chance for himself to focus on his location. The redshirt made a pledge to himself
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to work even harder this season, which was defiantly shown against the Bulldogs when it came to his pitching. One of his main goals was to get ahead and get outs from this game forward until the rest of the season. This win helped South Carolina get on the map again by plating 12 runs on 13 hits against North Carolina A&T, which will prepare the Gamecocks
for t he series against Princeton which begins on Friday. Despite their struggles coming into Wednesday’s game, Kingston feels confident this was a good rebound game and shift into the weekend. “I just think it’s what we needed,” Kingston said. “It is something that we need to build on and you hope that it builds in each of the hitters.”
Jayson Jeffers / THE DAILY GAMECOCK
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