Thoughts on Hicks, hosting, pitching after Gamecocks’ win over Georgia

The Gamecocks finally won a game again in the SEC Tournament, getting past Georgia thanks to a great outing from James Hicks to bolster a hosting chance.

South Carolina now get ready for a de facto rubber match against LSU Wednesday morning.

Before that, a few thoughts on Hicks, hosting and how the pitching sets up moving forward.

The James Hicks conundrum

There is always a lot of consternation and dissecting of coaching decisions when Mark Kingston and the staff makes an incorrect decision, but those coaches should get credit when credit is due. 

Making the decision to keep Cade Austin in the bullpen and starting James Hicks was absolutely the right move and paid off to the absolute max.

Hicks’ sinker ball was elite and Georgia was a righty-dominant lineup with the hope of keeping the ball in the ballpark and on the ground. 

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South Carolina played really well defensively behind him over the course of the game as well. When he’s getting the ball down in the zone and throwing strikes, he’s tough to beat. 

The question becomes now how the Gamecocks use him moving forward, and it sure looks like a starter for an NCAA Regional. 

Hicks came to South Carolina with a starter profile and was relegated to the bullpen because of a Will Sanders, Noah Hall Jack Mahoney rotation. There was an argument to be made Hicks should have been in the rotation once Sanders and Hall went down but the Gamecocks wanted him in the pen. 

It might be out of their control now with Hicks showing what he can do as a starter. 

“You always have to be evaluating what is going on in the trends of your team. Yeah, absolutely we have to look at that. We have to evaluate it,” Kingston said. “He’s got six wins. He’s got saves. He’s been everything that we could hope for. Now that we’re in the position we are from an injury standpoint, he got the opportunity to start in an SEC game, and he came through with flying colors like we thought he probably would, but I’m really glad that he did.”

That sets things up interesting potentially for a regional. Jack Mahoney is pitching his best ball of the year right now and could be really useful in a game as a No. 2 seed or in a potential winner’s bracket game on Saturday night. 

That would give South Carolina Hicks, Eli Jones and Matthew Becker as other starter options with Will Sanders hovering in the ether. 

Sanders could be a valuable bullpen piece, able to come in and not have to have three pitches working at one time. He could throw his slider and uncork a four-seamer at 97 miles per hour for short spurts. ‘[Subscribe for free to GamecockCentral’s YouTube page!]

Hosting chances

To put it simply, Tuesday’s win certainly helped the Gamecocks and the hosting resume. South Carolina moved up a spot in the RPI to No. 5 after the win and is now tied with a few teams with 20 Quad I wins, second most in the country. Only Clemson (21) had more at the time the game ended.

The Gamecocks have 39 wins now and are one shy of 40, which could go a long way too to getting a top-16 seed. Getting another win over the course of two guaranteed games would make this team feel really good about their chances.

Things don’t happen in a vacuum, and Tennessee with the chance to lose to Texas A&M (which is in a rain delay as of this writing) would help. Alabama is also in a single elimination game and on the cusp of hosting a regional as well. 

It’s still not a done deal either way, but Tuesday was a step in the right direction. 

Wednesday’s pitcher

There isn’t a steadfast answer right now, and it’s truly a toss-up. 

The Gamecocks aren’t going to move any of the three starters–Jones, Mahoney or Becker–up two days in their routines to pitch against LSU. 

When you take those guys out, there are limited options. Brett Thomas started games last year and Wesley Sweatt’s started games in his career, too. Sam Simpson has in short stints but he’s struggled and is still coming back from Tommy John surgery. 

Austin Williamson has the potential to start games as well and has had some ups and downs throughout the season. 

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Thomas might seem like the likeliest option but Sweatt could be there as well. Both will likely pitch tomorrow with Nick Proctor, Williamson, Jackson Phipps, Dylan Eskew, Zach Zedalis and Connor McCreery in the pen. 

It would make sense for Jones to be ready to start on Thursday in the winner or loser bracket after throwing 84 pitches against the Vols on Friday night then having Mahoney and Becker after that if the Gamecocks make it that far. 

LSU doesn’t have a reason to bump ace Paul Skenes up a day in his rest for a double elimination game, and the Tigers bullpen has struggled some of late.

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