Not even Cole Messina's SEC Tournament RBI record can save South Carolina from LSU's rally
HOOVER, Ala. — South Carolina baseball catcher Cole Messina can hit for contact and power. In the right situation, he showed Thursday, he can even steal a base.
But he can’t pitch. And, perhaps most crucially, he can’t play much infield defense from behind the plate.
The Gamecocks allowed 11 runs and made four errors, spoiling a record-setting night from Messina in an 11-10 loss to LSU at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
The crucial mistake came in the eighth inning, when Gavin Casas couldn’t field a ground ball to first base that would have gotten the Gamecocks (35-22) out of a bases-loaded jam with a 10-7 lead. Instead, two runs scored, opening the door for the Tigers’ ninth-inning dramatics.
LSU led off the ninth inning with a pair of singles and tied the game on Alex Milazzo’s sacrifice fly before former Gamecock Michael Braswell III delivered a two-out hit to drive in the eventual winning run against his old club.
South Carolina will now play an elimination game against third-seeded Kentucky on Friday (4 p.m., SEC Network.)
Cole Messina sets SEC Tournament record for South Carolina baseball
That spoiled another remarkable effort from Messina, whose SEC Tournament hot streak is arriving at a juncture where it might be wisest to just pitch around him.
But Messina twice dug into the batter's box on Thursday in situations where LSU (39-20) didn't have a choice.
The Gamecocks' slugging backstop used a pair of big hits with the bases loaded to drive in six runs.
Messina delivered what looked like the game's decisive moment when he roped a bases-loaded single up the middle in the sixth inning, turning a 7-6 deficit into an 8-7 lead for the Gamecocks, who added two more runs in the frame on Parker Noland's single.
In the third inning, he drove a center-cut fastball 440 feet over the wall in left-center field for his fourth home run of the tournament.
The six RBIs on the night brought his total to 14 in three games this week, breaking the record for one SEC Tournament. Mark Wright, who drove in 13 runs to help Ole Miss lift the trophy in 2006, previously held the record.
FULL UPDATES: South Carolina baseball live score updates vs LSU in SEC Tournament winner's bracket
Tyler Pitzer pitches well until fourth inning for South Carolina baseball
South Carolina coach Mark Kingston expressed on Wednesday his intent to avoid overextending his pitchers. He stayed true to that on Thursday, though perhaps not under the circumstances he wanted.
Starter Tyler Pitzer threw well through three innings, allowing just an unearned run in the top of the second. But the Tigers tagged him for back-to-back doubles to start the fourth, where Kingston lifted Pitzer for Jake McCoy.
McCoy didn't fare any better. Steven Milam plated the runner McCoy inherited with a single, and Jared Jones erased what was left of a four-run South Carolina lead with a two-run, opposite-field homer.
Those results signaled the beginning of an uncomfortable night for the USC bullpen, which allowed eight runs, though only six were earned.
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: South Carolina baseball blows late lead, falls to LSU at SEC Tournament
