South Carolina baseball had a nice week last week. The Gamecocks helped reinforce the positive vibes around the fanbase with a 3-1 showing that included a 15-2 shellacking of the East Tennessee State Buccaneers and a two-out-of-three series win in the "other Columbia" against the Missouri Tigers.
The man who led the charge was Gamecock backstop Cole Messina. The 2023 All-American catcher had an unbelievable showing to keep his Gamecocks on the right side of the Regional hosting line.
In the four games the Gamecocks played against ETSU and Mizzou, Messina went 9-14 at the plate with three home runs, one triple, and two doubles, and he knocked in 10 runners, scored 7 runs of his own, and swiped 2 bases. He also (as he pretty much always is) was elite defensively, as well, helping his pitching staff have three good showings and making his presence felt with his arm.
For his efforts, he was selected as the SEC Player of the Week, an honor most SEC baseball fans knew was coming his way.
Messina hadn't been bad at all this season (he was one of the team's top three of four offensive players on the year and a defensive cornerstone), but he wasn't quite hitting at Cole Messina levels for part of the year. However, with his recent hot streak, the All-American catcher has put himself in a good position to be able to put "two-time All-American catcher" on his resume as he has been the best player on the field of late.
Messina and his South Carolina baseball teammates will be in action in Rock Hill on Tuesday against the Winthrop Eagles before returning home for one last SEC series, a three-game set against the red-hot Georgia Bulldogs that begins on Thursday night. The Gamecocks and Bulldogs are tied in the SEC standings and the series could go a long way in seeding for both the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.