South Carolina baseball entered its most important game of the postseason without its starting first baseman Ethan Petry and starting third baseman Gavin Casas.

On Saturday, Petry was originally in the lineup against NC State in the NCAA Raleigh Regional but after warmups, was taken out with an injured hand. Cole Messina moved from catcher to first base for Petry.

The Gamecocks (37-24) lost 8-6 to the Wolfpack (35-20) and now face elimination.

South Carolina coach Mark Kingston said the Gamecocks will re-evaluate Petry on Sunday morning and then make a decision for the rematch against James Madison (35-24) at noon. South Carolina, which beat the Dukes on Friday in a 10th inning walkoff thriller, need to win to stay alive and would play NC State at 6 p.m. Sunday to force another game Monday.

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"It was not possible he could play tonight," Kingston said. "He's got a hairline fracture right above his pinky."

Petry injured his hand against James Madison on Friday but played the remainder of the game. Kingston said Petry didn't think he could hold and swing the bat at the level needed to hit on Saturday. Petry was in uniform in the dugout but never played.

Petry is hitting .306, the second-highest on the team. He's scored 57 runs, has 53 RBIs with a slugging percentage of .639 and an on base percentage of .470.

On Thursday, Casas was ruled out for the rest of the reason with a broken hamate bone. Casas was injured against Kentucky in the SEC tournament and had surgery on his hand before traveling with the team to Raleigh. The senior had a .260 batting average, with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs on the year.

Petry is tied with Messina for most home runs for South Carolina with 21, and Casas is second with 10. On Saturday without the two, the Gamecocks managed seven hits.

Dylan Brewer step ups for South Carolina baseball but Gamecocks fall 8-6

Even with Casas and Petry out, Dylan Brewer filled in nicely.

The fifth-year senior who's in his second season with South Carolina after three years at Clemson, had two home runs on Saturday. His first, a solo home run into the trees and his second, a two-run homer to tie the game in the seventh inning.

Brewer entered Saturday with 36 hits on the year and only four home runs. Brewer was not in the lineup on Friday but was the pinch runner who crossed home for the win on Will Tippett's sacrifice fly. Tippett had a home run on Saturday.

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Brewer hadn't started a game in the last six weeks before Saturday but kept the Gamecocks in the game against the Wolfpack.

"I want to say how unselfish Cole Messina is that he was willing to go in at first," Kingston said. "I was really impressed with the way Dalton Reeves caught tonight. We had guys all over the place, how can you not commend what Dylan Brewer did tonight ... I am very disappointed in the loss but can go to sleep tonight knowing those guys are unselfish and gave it everything they had."

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina baseball starter Ethan Petry to have hand re-evaluated