Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks, the softball team is super regional bound, and the baseball team's regular season comes to an end. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:54] Okay.
[00:00:56] Welcome to episode 322 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, D. Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. Hope y' all had a great weekend. Gamecocks was a super weekend for a lot of us there. Gonna get into that in a second, but just a great celebration of Gamecock softball and just a lot going on. I myself had a great weekend. I was out at the PGA Championship on Saturday and actually ran into and had a little conversation with Jackie Bradley, Jr. Yeah, JBJ at the PGA. Super nice guy, you know, just recognized him, was up on the tee box and just happened to be standing right next to him, shook his hand, took a picture. You know, he was in town for.
[00:01:44] On the call for the baseball game earlier that weekend.
[00:01:48] You know, quickly made, you know, a comment my. I did of like, you know, tough year for the baseball team. And he acknowledged it, but we didn't get too into the woods with that. But, yeah, shout out JBJ if he's listening to this somehow come on the show. Come on the show. But now, super nice guy, super weekend. And yeah, going to cover it all with y' all, and let's get into it here. But before that, of course, I have my daily Gamecock trivia and fact here. It's actually a fact today to start your week.
[00:02:21] The South Carolina men's soccer team ended the 2022, 2023 academic year with a combined GPA of 3.73, the highest among all Division 1 NCAA programs. How about that?
[00:02:38] Shout out to the men's soccer team.
[00:02:40] Putting the student in. Student athlete.
[00:02:44] I don't think these players always get enough credit that they do for actually having to do the schoolwork that they do. If you all have been following me for a long time, I talked a little bit about that to Parker White, my first ever interview on the show. Talked about just being able to balance the school side of things with being an SEC athlete. And, you know, they have advisors and they have, you know, folks who help them get, you know, caught up on studies and things like that. But, you know, trying to balance some sort of group project when you're on the road against, like, Auburn or something must just feel like quite the balancing act. But, yeah, shout out to Gamecock. Men's Soccer. 2022, 2023. Highest GPA. Shout out Soccer Love it. Absolutely love it. But, okay, let's. Let's jump into things here. There's only so much going on now, you know, on the football side of things. No major news. Shane Beamer tweeted out a couple of welcome homes. So trying to see who that will be, but love to see the recruiting momentum picking up. You know, this is kind of that time of year where this staff has rattled off some big recruiting wins.
[00:04:02] It can be quiet in the spring, but it feels like, I mean, we're early now, but it does feel like June was a month where Beamer and his staff tended to do some really good work. They get guys on campus for visits and they have their targets, and. And, you know, you look at some of the guys who have committed that early, they end up sticking with you. Hopefully they enroll early.
[00:04:25] So hopefully this staff is really well prepared to continue another summer with momentum and then summer camp. And now it's crazy. We are under 100 days. We're probably under 90 days at this point. So really, really excited for that. But, yeah, there's just not a ton going on now. But the biggest thing that was happening in Columbia this weekend was the regionals for the softball team. The ladies were hosting that regional with Elon, Virginia and North Florida. And we'll just kind of work backwards from it here. But the Gamecock softball team is super regional bound. Winning the Columbia regional, advancing into the postseason, and just keeping this season going. I mean, really incredible work by this entire team and this entire staff to just continue this fantastic season.
[00:05:24] And I'm going to get into the scores here in a second here, but moving along this regional with not a lot of drama, you know, didn't take getting to that final game on Sunday that, you know, that extra TBA game. Sometimes in a regional, you'll have the host team, like, maybe drop a game in the. In the first round and then have to battle back and get that momentum. That was not the case for this team able to start this thing well and end it incredibly strong. And there's pressure in these games, you know, like both teams or all the teams rather, they're under pressure. They know they have to perform.
[00:06:06] It's essentially win or go home. You know, you have a little bit of margin of error in these things, double elimination, round robin types. But to go out there and perform in front of the home crowd, and it's just. It's just a testament to this team and the way they've really come together this year and are good, just a good team.
[00:06:30] So it's going to be really, really fun to follow this thing. And who knows how far this train will go, but right now, it's moving on to the supers. So Friday, things were started. South Carolina took on Elon, winning to a score of 5 to 2.
[00:06:49] Saturday afternoon, things were a little closer here with North Florida and South Carolina winning there. 3 nothing. So a shutout effort there. There was some timely hitting late in that game to be the difference for South Carolina.
[00:07:05] And then Sunday it was North Florida again, sort of how it all worked out. And South Carolina winning and winning the regional. 8 nothing. So saving the best for last, getting better as you progress through this regionals here. And yeah, back to back shutout wins Sunday, winning eight nothing. Just the offense really clicking on all cylinders there. So just exciting to see. It really is. You know, anytime we can cheer on any one of our sports having a deep postseason run, it's really exciting. And then for a sport like softball, where there is such a nice stadium around it, a good amount of people can go seeing the pictures. This weekend, the fan support was through the roof. And I don't know, just in the sec, you hear about these good softball programs. And now that with the addition of Texas and especially Oklahoma, it feels nice to compete in this and to have a shot as good as any at this point.
[00:08:09] So really, really exciting there. So what is next with the super regionals? Now, because of the seating, South Carolina is actually able to host that super regional, which is huge.
[00:08:22] Absolutely huge. So that picks up again on Friday. So next episode, I'll dive into it a little bit more, But South Carolina is going to be taking on UCLA Friday again, that is, at home. UCLA is a really good team. They were, I believe, also hosting their own regionals. But again, top eight seed, you're able to host the regional. And obviously with how it all shook out with who won, who lost, etc. So UCLA having to fly all the way across the country, coming to the Southeast could be a little bit of a tough adjustment for them or, you know, I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but fan support's gonna be there. This team is rolling. You get to stay in the comfort of your home.
[00:09:10] It's really, really good. So tip of the cap, hats off to the softball team. They are giving Gamecock Nation a lot to root for and a lot to be excited about. So shout out them.
[00:09:24] And then moving over to the other side of things, I feel like that's how I had just always segue from softball to baseball. Just Talking about the other side of the coin here. The baseball team was in action late last week into the weekend for their final regular season series. They were hosting the top seated LSU Tigers. And it's funny, like when the season first started and I was looking at the schedule, there's a few series that stick out, of course, and lsu, big baseball program, we've had some battles with them in the past.
[00:10:05] I kind of looked at this one and said, wow, how about ending the season at home against lsu? That could provide some drama.
[00:10:15] That could be a big series. Like again, this is way back, this is months ago, and thinking, huh, like maybe this could be an opportunity for South Carolina to, you know, solidify itself in the SEC tournament or something along those lines. And obviously we know how the season went and that's not the case. So you end up hosting the top team and hoping for the best there. South Carolina was on the wrong side of things on this series here, but we'll recap each game here as it is the last series of the season. Thursday, though, things got started with with some excitement. You know, South Carolina was down for a lot of the game here, but then two runs in the ninth, walk off, win to start the series. And seeing the excitement of the players and seeing the excitement of the fans in the stands like that is what sports is about. Season's not going your way. You're hosting a team where you kind of feel like there's not a lot of hope.
[00:11:22] Boom.
[00:11:23] Walk off W to start off the series. K.J. scoby in the ninth homeward. And that tied things up at five a piece. And then the Gamecocks got the bases juiced again in the bottom of the ninth. And then thanks to a wild pitch, May Shore was able to come aboard, come home, and that was the difference maker. Gamecocks winning 6, 5 in the opening series. Ashton Crowther got the start and and O decision. It was Matthew Becker who ended up pitching just a third of the inning in the end of the game and got the win.
[00:11:59] Some other player highlights for you here. KJ Scobie, of course, 2 for 3 with 2 RBI. Henry Kazmar, 2 for 3 with 1 RBI as well. So that was an exciting moment in this series to start things off.
[00:12:14] Walk off Wood. You have everything sort of all in front of you. You know, you put your cards on the table and you know, you go into Saturday and obviously we know there's not going to be this, you know, incredible turnaround with two games left to go, but you go into that one I don't know. With maybe a little bit more pep in your step, I think. I think that's probably the way to describe it. And so you go into that game on Friday, excuse me, and unfortunately things did not go our way as South Carolina lost eight to one close in those first two innings. But then LSU putting up three in the third, two in the fifth and two in the eighth. South Carolina was only able to get scratch along that one run in the third there. So I believe it was that you had.
[00:13:10] The Tigers did not change up their rotation, so Thursday was a little different for them. So we're going against their regular Friday pitchers on Friday and regular Saturday on Saturday. So I think that that ultimately did show there. Jake McCoy got the start for the Gamecocks and the loss.
[00:13:32] Player highlights really not much.
[00:13:35] Really not much as the Gamecocks were only able to score the one run. I'd say K.J. scoby want one for four there. So that brings us to Sunday or Saturday. Excuse me, has me all, has me all tied up there. But Gamecocks were on the losing side of the rubber match 7 to 3.
[00:13:57] It was a deal where LSU just was able to tack on a couple of inning, big innings there in the, in the mid innings. Carolina just couldn't get it going. And yeah, LSU tacked on a few insurance runs there in the end of the game, seventh, eighth and ninth inning. And that was unfortunately all she wrote. Dylan Eskew got the start and the loss. Player Highlights KJ Scobie had a nice weekend. 1 for 4 with 1 RBI, Bo Hollins 2 for 4 with 1 RBI and Henry Kazmar 1 for 3 with 1 RBI. So that is a wrap on the regular season there. It was a tough one to say the least.
[00:14:42] I believe it was the worst or second to worst SEC record that South Carolina has posted in program history. Certainly one of the worst overall records that the team has posted. So thus concludes the regular season. And you know, I've talked at length about just how this season has gone sideways and there's just not much more you can say.
[00:15:10] You know, it's a deal where, you know, when this season is fully wrapped up, you know, can let some takes fly, can let some thoughts fly, but it's just a tough one, you know. You know, it was nice to get that walk off win. I think we all deserved that. Anyone who has a vested interest in this program, that was for you to be able to go out there and enjoy that moment against the top team to have that walk off at home, knowing that the regular season is about to come to a close. But then I think the other, the other games were more emblematic, symbolic of how the season has gone where you have, you're getting over overpowered at points and you're not able to mount that comeback always. And so able to scratch one out in front of the home fans in a fun manner. And thus concluding the regular season for the Gamecocks here. So what is next?
[00:16:15] The SEC tournament is what's ahead here. South Carolina is set to take on Florida.
[00:16:23] So that game is Tuesday evening, Tuesday at 5:30.
[00:16:28] Florida, of course, had given South Carolina fits earlier this season, but nonetheless we will see how things go. And look, we talked about two seconds ago, tournament setting, different mindset. There is pressure. Florida, a team that is playing for some different things on the line than South Carolina is. South Carolina has nothing to lose.
[00:16:51] So can the guys rally? Can the guys sit back and say, all right, there's nothing else going on here. We have nothing to play for right now. Excuse me, Nothing to lose.
[00:17:05] You have nothing to lose here, right?
[00:17:08] It's not like hosting a regionals stays in the balance.
[00:17:12] If you're going to make noise, it's in this tournament.
[00:17:17] So can the guys rally?
[00:17:19] Can they approach this game ready to attack, go out there and who knows, make some waves? Do it for Gamecock Nation. So we'll see how it goes.
[00:17:30] I'll of course recap everything next episode. But with the season coming to a close there, those of you who followed me along, there is the summer schedule for the podcast. So that might go into effect this week.
[00:17:47] We'll see, depending on how again, baseball and softball goes. But that's neither here nor there. I'll go over that with y' all next episode. But yes, Tuesday night, South Carolina taking on Florida in the SEC tournament. Put all your chips on the table and let's see what you can do here. But with that, y' all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecox. 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.
