This series was a microcosm of the season for South Carolina baseball. The surprising highs and crushing lows. The lack of pitching depth. A Gamecock team that could have quit rallies to avoid a sweep after an inexcusable Saturday loss. Mark Kingston is the head coach, and like Herm Edwards said, you are what your record says you are, (24-22, 10-14 for the season and 134-102 and 50-62 for his Carolina career). The wins and losses are ultimately going to fall on his shoulders with no regard for the "whys", but it can never be said that this team has quit on their head coach.

Carolina hit .348 in College Station with 7 home runs. Braylen Wimmer was 6-for-9 with two home runs and five walks. Playing on one leg with a severe ankle injury, Josiah Sightler went 6-for-15 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs. Carolina had 40 hits during the series. Brandt Belk continued his stellar SEC season with 5 more hits and 5 more runs scores. The Gamecocks scored 25 runs this weekend.

Unfortunately, the pitching and defense did not travel. Carolina committed 6 errors, walked 18 Aggies batters, had 5 wild pitches and hit 8 A&M hitters. Needless to say, those numbers aren't conducive to pulling off an upset road series win. The Chapin Freshman duo of Cade Austin and Matthew Becker deserves credit for their resiliency. After getting shelled during A&M's 9-run comeback on Saturday, the Chapin boys shut out the Aggies for 3 innings in Sunday's contest.

If the Gamecocks are watching college baseball from their couches in June, Saturday May 7th will haunt them. Saturday's loss, the game 1 loss to Georgia, and the game 2 loss to Missouri are the three most costly games of the season. Carolina blew late leads and lost in their opponent's last at-bat in all 3 contests.

I believe that the only way Carolina plays past Hoover is by sweeping Kentucky, who just beat Tennessee in a series, and beating Florida 2 of 3 in Gainesville. They would also need to win both remaining midweek games. Even if Carolina is able to get .500 in the league by season's end, they will still likely need some wins in Hoover.

The Men's Tennis team has advanced to the Sweet 16 after beating SC State and Pepperdine during the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. They travel to Virginia for a meeting with the #7 seed Cavaliers Friday. The match begins at 3:00 pm. The Women’s squad saw their season come to an end in the second round at the hands of #1 seed North Carolina.

The Women’s Golf team begins their tournament at 8:00 am EST. The Gamecocks are the #1 seed in the 12-team Tallahassee Regional. All regionals are 54-holes over 3 days. Carolina will be paired with No. 11 UCLA and No. 15 Florida State. The top 4 teams move on to the Championship rounds. This marks the 23rd straight NCAA Regional appearance for the program dating back to 1999.