Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks, women's basketball is final four bound. Baseball salvages a game, and softball sweeps an SEC opponent. Okay, here we go.
Okay. Welcome to episode 230 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And hope y'all had a lovely, lovely weekend out there. Gamecock Nation, March Madness, all really coming into focus on the men's side, especially. I mean, what a run by NC State. Love to see that upsetting the evil empire. That is a duke basketball. You do have some SEC representation with Bama as well. That's a pretty crazy run as well. But, yeah, just a very fun weekend loaded with college sports. You had Marsh madness on the men's side, of course. You had ladies in action. Our gamecocks in action. I'll get into that in a second here. And then, of course, you had Gamecock baseball sprinkled throughout, but that was kind of up and down. Wouldn't blame you if you didn't watch it all. But nonetheless, here was a great weekend. Hope you all are excited and looking forward to this week. It's going to be. Feels like it's going to be maybe a little bit of a longer week, right? Because we're just really looking forward to getting to the final four and watching that game with our ladies, Dawn Staley and company. It just feels like every day I'm going to be looking at the calendar like, okay, today's Monday. I got to get to this Tuesday. That, like, just please get me to that game. You know what I mean? But going to get into all that here in a second. But let me first review this weekend's action from around Gamecock athletics here. Decent amount of scores for y'all here. Friday, equestrian lost to Texas A and M 14 to six. Softball beat Ole Miss 20. Men's tennis beat Georgia four to three. Women's tennis beat Ole Miss six to one. So nice Friday for tennis there. Saturday, softball beat Ole Miss eight three. Equestrian lost to Georgia, twelve to seven. Which brings us to Sunday, where softball beat and swept Ole Miss. They beat them for nothing. And, you know, I feel like I kind of mushed that. I think I mushed that into existence. It was an episode or two ago where I was saying that kind of feels like the ladies on the softball team might be struggling a little bit in SEC play. Boom. You sweep all miss. Shout out to the softball team. Let's get that rolling. Let's keep up that momentum there. But always love to sweep a conference foe and then men's tennis, unfortunately lost to Tennessee for nothing. But women's tennis beat Mississippi State seven nothing. So a very busy and a largely winning weekend from around Gamecock athletics. Absolutely love to see that. So, shout out to all of our student athletes here, but some student athletes that really need to be shouted out is our women's basketball team. So let's get into that. And, yeah, I mean, sheesh. Take a breath. What a weekend for Don Staley and company as they have reached the final four yet again. Once more, Gamecock women's basketball is there in its rightful place. I absolutely love it. And, you know, I was really thinking about it, and I've talked about it before, and it's been talked about whenever the ladies are on tv and different interviews and things like that. But, like, this is a really special team right now, and some of these players are gonna be here next year, right? So it's like this. Isn't this, like, blip on a radar, but this is a special team that is really carving their own path in Gamecock history and having different players deliver in big moments when it matters. Like, we've all talked about it, like, completely different starting five from last year. You don't have that veteran, like, legend status team that you had, right, with Aaliyah Boston and company.
You had different players being asked to step up, start for the first time in their Gamecock career, take on bigger roles than they had in the past. You're having players who worked on their game knowing that they're going to have to step up in different situations.
You bring in a transfer specifically talking about Pow, pow. Here, tahina. Pow, pow comes in. She has to get acclimated to the culture. Sec, all that jazz and the leadership and the coaching of Don Staley was able to get the most out of these players, bring them together. They all continued to buy into that championship culture. And the people, the players who were part of this group from years past, who has. Who have been part of these deep runs, like, now it's their time to be the leaders, right? Like, you look at Brie Hall, Camila Cardozo, Raven Johnson. Like, they know what it takes to get to this spot, but maybe not being necessarily that leader, right, to lead by example. And now it's their time. And this team has not dropped the baton. You know, it. People have been saying that it's not a rebuild. It was a renovation, and that's exactly what this team did. And it's incredible where they are right here. But this weekend did not come without its challenges, though, as the Gamecocks had to take a few punches along the way. I mean, these last two rounds definitely was a well earned trip to the final four. It was not just a steamroll. So let's quickly look back at it. So in the sweet 16, the ladies took on Indiana. And I mean, y'all watch that game. They really got pushed to the brink, but got the win 79 to 75. The lady saw a 22 point lead, dropped to a single possession game, and really, it just felt like they lost their offensive groove for much of the second half. Don went back to basics. You're getting Camilla the ball in the post late. Would have liked to see that a little bit more, but it was really Raven Johnson who had the very clutch shots, and she was the difference maker late in the game. And that's what I'm talking about. Like a year ago, teams were backing off Raven Johnson because she wasn't the strongest shooter. She went in the gym. She worked on it. It's not a finished product, but it's a hell of a lot better than it was to the point where she is the difference maker in a sweet 16 game. And this game was just the definition of survive and advance. Indiana pushed. They had players on fire. They different contributors. You didn't necessarily game plan form necessarily, but survive and advance and advance. The ladies did as they took on Oregon State in the Elite Eight Sunday afternoon. And the Gamecocks got the win 70 to 58 to once again advance to the final four. Now, this run was tight at the half, but it was a big third quarter for South Carolina and solid defense late that gave the Gamecocks the edge. And that just feels like it's on brand. I mean, doesn't it? Like, very consistent theme from this team is getting better as the game goes on. And we saw that on display here. I also feel like the third quarter, it just feels like that's been a quarter where the ladies come out of the gate after the half. They're fresh. They just come out and they attack. And we've seen it that the depth that this team has a lot of the time when you get to that late second half, the opponent just doesn't quite have it in the tank to bring it to the finish line. And I think that's kind of what you saw here because once again, the bench players played a massive role in this game as they outscored the starters. Tessa Johnson had herself a big game. She has been. She has been a really under the radar contributor late this season. You know, talking about young players here, rightfully so. Malaysia Fulweilly gets a lot of credit and she gets her flowers, and she is incredible. Like, this time next year, we very well might be talking about Fawily, like, becoming the face of women's college basketball, but Tessa Johnson has consistently gotten better. And she would show up here and there, right? Like, oh, like eight points, ten points, like big threes. And it just feels like of late, she's really hitting her stride. She's great shot. One of the better free throw shooters on the team. So she could be on the floor in late game close situations like she was against Indiana. But you gotta love some of the young talent also on this team that's coming off the bench. And that, again, just these difference makers that point to championship foundations, right? So it's very exciting to see player highlights from the elite eight game. Tessa Johnson, the aforementioned 15 points. Camila Cardozo, twelve points and nine rebounds. Brie breezy hall, ten points. And so what's next? Right? The Gamecocks will face off in the final four. Can't say it enough. You just really can't. Friday against NC State. So I will preview that next episode. We'll get into the ins and outs. We're still trying to shake up how the other side of the bracket will look. There's a fantastic couple of games there, so definitely sit down, enjoy those games, because potentially there's an opponent that we're going to be looking at. But you got to look at what's ahead of you, right? The job is not finished. I mean, NC State right now, something is in the water over there. What's it? Raleigh.
[00:11:52] Speaker B: Right?
[00:11:52] Speaker A: So, like, they got a lot of good mojo going on at NC State right now with both of their programs, so you certainly don't want to take anything lightly. And the fact of the matter is, the job is not finished.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: Right?
[00:12:06] Speaker A: This team has been to a final four and not seen it come to fruition. It's very hard to get to that next step, right? And the gamecock saw in the sweet 16, it's not easy. You can't just lean back and. And say, hey, like, we're undefeated. We've got this. Like, absolutely not. The job is not finished. This team has to stay locked in. And again, these veteran players who have been to this stage before, they need to share as much wisdom as they can with the new and young faces as to maybe what they can expect. You know, like your practices, there's more press, you're answering more questions and things like that. It's different when you go to the games itself. You're going to be playing right in an NBA arena. There's going to be more cameras. The fans like what can you expect? So this week, I hope the ladies rest up, practice hard, and let's sort of get in the mindset of what to expect here Friday against NC state. Should be a good one. And then fingers crossed, we're talking about being in a championship game. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. NC State is the pure focus right now and let's go get it.
So moving on here, changing gears a little bit, a lot of it talking baseball here, yard Cox and you know, the one thing that I thought of this weekend was, you know, what goes up must come down, right? Because we felt really high on our team. They were coming in hot after the Vandy sweep and then like that power surge in the midweek game last week. But the struggles returned to the Gamecock dugout this weekend out in Tuscaloosa as Carolina lost two out of three to Alabama. And some of the frustrations, the same frustrations rather hanging around this team that we have thought of right? So quickly, let's go through this. Game one, Carolina lost four three. This was close game right throughout. In fact, Carolina was leading for most of the game, but the Tide would tie the game in the bottom of the 7th and take the lead in the bottom of the 8th. Eli Jones got the start and a no decision going six innings. Garrett Ganey got the loss in relief. Player highlights. You had Gavin Cassis go three for four with a ribby. Kennedy Jones one for four with one RBI. Game two, the Gamecocks dropped 13 to six. Now Carolina actually battled back to tie this game, scoring multiple runs in the fifth and 6th inning. So you kind of saw this momentum, late game surge. Like maybe the guys could get it done. But Alabama went on to have a very big inning themselves in the 8th and that was that. Dylan esque, you got the start and a no decision going two, two, three, giving up five runs. Matthew Becker went four one three in relief and got the loss himself. Player highlights Colmisena one for four with three RBI. Parker Nolan one for four with two RBI. Which brings us to game three where the Gamecocks were able to salvage something as the team won nine to eight. The Gamecocks stormed back in this one in the middle and late innings. Big hits from Brewer, Jones, Petrie, among others. Alabama rallied in the 9th, brought it right to the brink. But Carolina was able to escape away with the win and avoid the sweep. Tyler Pitzer got the start and a no decision. Ty good got the win and Chris Veatch got the save. Player highlights from this one, Cole Messina, three for four with two RBI, Dylan Brewer, two for five with two RBI, and Ethan Petri, one for four with two RBI. So where are we at?
I feel like you could ask five different people their opinions on Gamecock baseball and you're going to get five different answers.
[00:16:33] Speaker B: Right.
[00:16:34] Speaker A: There may be some common themes, but just kind of like, where, where are we at here?
[00:16:40] Speaker B: Right.
[00:16:41] Speaker A: So quickly looking at this series, like Ray Tanner used to say that the key is to win your series at home and avoid the sweeps on the road. So by that philosophy and by that logic, the Gamecocks have managed to do that through the couple of series that they've had on the road.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: Right.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: So we are, though we're through a month and a half, give or take of the season, we're still fairly new into SEC play, but I think it's fair to say things haven't quite been where we want them to.
My biggest concern right now is this seeming like big disparity on how the team is playing at home versus away. And I understand and I know that the SEC has leveled up in baseball, generally speaking, compared to, let's call it five years ago.
[00:17:42] Speaker B: Right.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: It's harder to win on the road. The SEC is more competitive in general.
[00:17:49] Speaker B: Right.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: But there are definitely some things with this team that need to be looked at and talked about and worked on, particularly hitting with runners in scoring position.
And also, you know, I don't think this rotation is rock solid. You know, I mean, you look at this series, you have everyone who started getting a no decision very well could have been a loss in pretty much all of them.
And you don't really have this bonafide all star, all SEC starter.
It feels like guys are good, but maybe not great.
That's a problem. You're back with a bullpen with Ganey despite him taking a loss or two in this series. And veatch you feel good about.
But I don't think the rotation is rock solid and I don't really know what you can do about that. But it needs to be talked about.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: Right.
[00:18:50] Speaker A: And it's not to say that these things can't be fixed.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Right.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: And it's weird because generally, like, they haven't been that big of an issue at home.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: Right.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: You saw what happened against Vandy, against some of the other teams that we've played in the mid weeks as well. Like the hitting has pretty much been there, too. So this is where Mark Kingston and staff need to work with the guys on their approach, their scouting and everything like that because it's not getting any easier.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: Right?
[00:19:24] Speaker A: You got Florida around the corner. There's a midweek game with UNC around the corner. You still got a full other like month or two basically, of SEC baseball. So the guys have to find a way to get a couple of good series on the road. If you can keep playing well at home, fantastic. But you want to be in a position of strength come the end of the year. You have to find a way to get those series wins on the road. And you could really talk all day about which one is which, right? Is it hitting with runners and scoring position? Because for the most part against Alabama, that was not good at all. Or do you want to talk about starting pitching?
[00:20:11] Speaker B: Right?
[00:20:12] Speaker A: It's tough to say, right? But it's April now and things are heating up. You know, you're kind of at the point where, you know, there's always the old adage like hitting beats pitching, pitching beats hitting, et cetera. Like you're kind of at the point now where the guys have their feet underneath them. There's not that little quick excuse you can go back to. You need to see a more consistent effort from this baseball team.
And I'm not going to get ahead of myself here and talk about, like, anything drastic or whatnot, but over these next three weeks, right, like for the month of April, like, we need to see good, consistent baseball, especially on the road here. But up next for the Gamecocks is a midweek game Wednesday against Georgia Southern. Let's hope the guys come home and get their swagger back a little bit. But that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecocks. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox talking gamecocks. And please, like, subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cox.
