Live updates/game thread: South Carolina at Florida (Super Regional Game 1)
South Carolina is a step closer towards its goal of winning the College World Series.
The No. 15-seeded Gamecocks will face Florida in a Super Regional for a chance to go to Omaha.
James Hicks will get the start on the mound. He’ll go opposite of Florida right-hander Brandon Sproat.
After a long weather delay, there will be baseball at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville. First pitch is at 8:30 p.m. GamecockCentral will be on hand to provide live updates all weekend long.
Follow along for live updates
South Carolina gives James Hicks starting nod for Super Regional opener
By: Jack Veltri
Mark Kingston is usually secretive with his decision-making. He doesn’t want to give anything away that might give his opponent an advantage.
In the back of his mind, he might already know what he’s going to do. But it’s all about waiting and seeing what happens.
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So when Florida announced its pitching plans for the upcoming Super Regional, Kingston went ahead and named James Hicks his game one starter.
“He’s been tremendous lately. He’s pitching with a lot of confidence. He has very good stuff, very good command. His presence out there on the mound has inspired a lot of confidence in the entire dugout,” Kingston said.
In hindsight, it wasn’t a shocking decision. Hicks has been pitching his best as of late. He’s pitched 11.2 innings and allowed no runs on five hits with 12 strikeouts to two walks in his last two starts. Both starts came in big spots: the SEC Tournament and Columbia regional.
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Even before then, Hicks had been a do-it-all guy for the Gamecocks. He’s 8-1 with a 3.32 ERA in 24 appearances (five starts).
That’s not to say it’s been all perfect for him, though. He admitted he went through a “rough patch” and leaned on pitching coach Justin Parker to figure things out.
“We broke down what I was doing wrong and we came back with some mechanical changes that really helped,” Hicks said. “It feels so good to have the coaching staff still support me and stick with me, even though I was struggling there for a little bit. So it means the world to me.”
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