South Carolina’s latest lineup changes come in hopes of more runs scoring

If South Carolina had a great lineup from top to bottom, head coach Paul Mainieri wouldn’t even think about moving Nathan Hall out of the leadoff spot. He loves having him there.

“I like a guy that can hit,” Mainieri told GamecockCentral. “So when the lineup turns over, now they’ve got to face that guy, and he’s got a chance to run the ball out of the park. You can lead off the game with an extra base hit.”

But it hasn’t been that simple for the Gamecocks this season. While Hall has been the ideal tone setter with the highest batting average and most hits, most of the lineup hasn’t had the same luck. And it’s forced Mainieri to make a change.

“I just don’t think we have the luxury of leaving him at the top of the order,” he said. “If the guys that were hitting three and four would be driving in a ton of runs, I would never think of moving Nathan out of the leadoff spot.”

For the first time all season, Hall wasn’t batting leadoff when Mainieri turned in his lineup card on Tuesday. Instead, he decided to move Hall down to the three-hole with Ethan Petry batting cleanup. It wasn’t for any fault of his own, but rather just a better way to potentially score more runs.

Petry has mainly been hitting third this season with great success as the team’s next-best hitter alongside Hall. Excluding what he’s done at the plate, a slew of others who have hit in the heart of the order are a combined 27-for-117 (.231) this year.

Hall and Petry have been hitting behind each other a lot more recently. It started on March 25 when the pair hit back-to-back homers to lead off the game against North Carolina. Over the weekend against Tennessee, they went 8-for-27 (.296), hitting in the top two spots of the order.

Stay on top of all things Gamecocks for just $1 for 7 days—lock in this special offer today!

Which leads into Tuesday. With Hall hitting third and Petry fourth, they each had two hits and drove in a pair of runs. Petry hit a two-run homer in the third inning, scoring Hall, which would be the difference in an eventual 11-1 win over Presbyterian.

“I think RBI opportunities is a smart thing to do. We got a guy on second and third, and me and Nate are coming up; most likely those guys are getting in,” Petry told GamecockCentral. “We’re going to put a ball in play, put a ball in the air, you know, clutch hitting.”

It’s unclear if this trend will continue as South Carolina begins a three-game series at Mississippi State on Friday. But knowing the offense needs to be able to score more often, Mainieri hinted at the possibility of keeping his two best hitters in the middle of the lineup.

“You’re not going to win a lot of games just with solo home runs. We need multi-run home runs. If they’re not hitting with runners on base, it’s impossible to hit a multi-run home run,” Mainieri said. “So the way you beat good teams like Mississippi State or Tennessee or whoever you’re playing in our league is you have to have your best players do something extraordinary. And just getting on base is not enough.

“They have to produce runs. I just think if more guys get on base in front of them, then we’ve got a better chance. I gotta figure out who can get on base in front of them.”

As for who could hit in front of Hall and Petry, that’s still a work in progress. Though there are a few potential possibilities. Evan Stone has found his way into the lineup much more this season with good results, hitting .278 with two homers and eight RBI in nine starts. He was hitting second on Tuesday.

Jordan Carrion has been hitting near the backend of the lineup since becoming the team’s starting second baseman. He’s hitting for a high average at .352 and can get on base with some good speed. But Mainieri isn’t sure if that would work well since Carrion doesn’t hit for power.

“When I lived in Louisiana, we had a word for a guy like Jordan Carrion in the lineup. It was called ‘Lagniappe’. It meant something a little extra,” he said. “So you don’t necessarily count on him to be the main guy, but everything that he gives you is something extra that makes you a better team.”

Ideally, Mainieri wants hitters who can be table setters, much like Hall, in those spots. Of course, he wants someone who can get on base, but more so, someone who can come through with hits.

“Name the person, if he’s going up there with the idea, ‘I’m going to be really selective, I’m going to draw walks. I’m going to get on base,’” Mainieri said. “Ah, that’s wonderful. But what happens now in the eighth inning, when I need you to drive in the runs, you’re not ready to hit because your whole game is centered around drawing walks.”

Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!

The post South Carolina’s latest lineup changes come in hopes of more runs scoring appeared first on On3.