Notes, takeaways from South Carolina baseball availability
South Carolina hosted its final media availability before heading on the road for this weekend’s Super Regional with plenty to glean from it.
Gamecocks’ head coach MarkKingston and a few players spoke to the media with updates and insight on injuries, the offensive approach, how South Carolina might handle its pitching and more.
Injury, lineup update
Mark Kingston said Braylen Wimmer tweaked his hamstring during the regional a “tick” but that it shouldn’t affect his availability this weekend at Florida.
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Wimmer even confirmed as much to GamecockCentral during availability, saying: “I’ll be out there. It doesn’t really matter how I feel at this point.”
He’s a key cog for South Carolina when healthy and playing shortstop, slashing .500/.625/1.083 last weekend with seven runs scored and two homers.
Will McGillis seems likely to stick at the DH spot this weekend. He made it through the regional without any real issues and was taking batting practice Wednesday morning.
The most pain he has is when he throws the ball, which could cause him to re-aggravate that previously broken arm, so the Gamecocks are going to err on the side of caution it seems to make sure he’s available at the leadoff spot.
He finished .385/.500/.923 in the regional and has an OPS of 1.229 with 12 runs and 14 RBI when hitting at the very top of the lineup.
Pitching roles taking shape
Kingston mentioned Eli Jones serving in more of a bullpen role this weekend, saying the Gamecocks would like to use him in a similar role against Florida as they did in the regional.
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That means the likeliest starting candidates would include James Hicks, Jack Mahoney, Will Sanders and Matthew Becker.
The “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” model of thinking would lend itself to starting Hicks and Mahoney in the first two games while having Sanders and Becker available out of the pen early or ready to start if there is a game three in the Super.
Sanders has been great against Florida in his career with a 2.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP with 29 strikeouts and Becker was really good in a start this year, allowing just two hits (solo homers) over five innings.
The Gators didn’t hit lefties well in SEC play at just .238 (12th best in the league). Florida hit .282 off lefties in SEC play.
Mahoney gave up two runs on five hits and walked three in five innings against the Gators. Hicks gave up two runs on four hits over four innings in relief.
Offensive carryover
South Carolina looked the part of a high-caliber offense in its regional, scoring 41 runs on a .356/.507/.556 slash line, striking out 31 times to 30 walks and hitting nearly .400 with runners in scoring position.
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The Gamecocks passed the eye test and think that identity should carry over to a Super Regional against one of the more highly-touted pitching staffs in the country with three first-round talents on it.
South Carolina hitters believe that the offensive approach, which is there when rested and healthy, will help as they get ready for a tough test on the road.
The Gamecocks had some offensive success against a Brandon Neely-less Gators pitching staff, scoring 25 runs and walking 24 times while slashing .276/.439/.494 against them. South Carolina also didn’t have Talmage LeCroy, McGillis or Gavin Casas (outside of two at-bats) for that series.
Observations from practice
The energy level was incredibly high and guys seemed to be pretty loose in the final workout before heading to Gainesville. The Gamecocks will practice again Thursday afternoon around 3 p.m. in the absolute last tune-up before the Super.
There were a ton of line-drive swings and McGillis looked good again swinging the bat in the portion of BP open to the media. Will Tippett was once again shagging balls in centerfield and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him out there again for a Super Regional.
Tippett played against Florida in April in his first real taste of SEC baseball and walked twice, struck out seven times and had an RBI walk. He also scored three times over the course of the series.
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