No explanation: Gamecocks struggle in another SEC Tournament

Another year, another disappointing performance in the SEC tournament for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

For the seventh consecutive year, the Gamecocks failed to win multiple games in Hoover. Not only did South Carolina fail to notch a win in the conference tournament, the Gamecocks were outscored 19-2 during their two days in Alabama.

Over the last 24 hours, there have been plenty of theories thrown out as to why South Carolina can not seem to function in the SEC tournament. Unfortunately, for Gamecock fans, none of them explain one of the most puzzling phenomenons in college baseball.

1. The team doesn’t try to win the games so they can rest for the NCAA tournament.

South Carolina entered this year’s SEC tourney knowing they likely needed two victories to secure a national seed. They then went out and got pummeled by Mississippi State and thoroughly beaten by Florida. The Gamecocks had a chance to make their road to Omaha much easier this week and were blasted. I highly doubt Chad Holbrook, who threw his best relief pitcher (Cody Mincey) and his closer (Joel Seddon) in the first four innings of the Florida game, wanted his team to go winless so they could rest.

2. The huge dimensions of Hoover Metropolitan Stadium throw off the Gamecock hitters. 

The park doesn’t seem to bother Mississippi State, which has pounded out 17 runs in two games. Or LSU, which hung 11 runs on Vanderbilt in its first game of the tournament. In the first 10 games of the 2014 SEC Tournament, only South Carolina and Texas A&M (the 10th-seed) were shut out. Every other team in the conference seems to be handling the stadium just fine.

3. The Gamecocks are cursed in Hoover. 

If there is someone holding a voodoo doll deep underneath the stadium, they certainly don’t have a flair for the dramatic. The Gamecocks don’t lose close, agonizing games in Hoover. They lose quickly and early and without hope. There is no jinx on South Carolina. The Gamecocks simply play their worst baseball of the season in the SEC tournament.

The most frustrating aspect of USC’s Hoover blues for Gamecock fans is that they simply have no explanation. There is nothing anyone can point to that explains why the Gamecocks are incapable of competing in the conference tournament. Over the last seven seasons, the Gamecocks have lost 10 NCAA tournament games and 14 games in Hoover. South Carolina’s struggles in the conference tourney defy logic.

Fortunately for Gamecock fans, the woes of Hoover haven’t carried over in quite a while.