South Carolina Gamecocks
Overall Rank: #41
Conference Rank: #10 SEC
At one point last season it looked like South Carolina would miss out on the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. That would be the second time the Gamecocks missed two straight tournaments in the last five years. The last time that happened was in the mid-1990’s. But Coach Mark Kingston’s team rallied late in the year and ended up reaching the tournament. And once there the Gamecocks cruised through the Greenville Regional before falling to Arkansas in three games in the Fayetteville Super Regional.
2018: 37-26, 17-13
2018 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Mark Kingston
Key Departed Players:
Justin Row, IF, .347 BA, 7 HR, 25 RBI
LT Tolbert, IF, .322 BA, 8 HR, 56 RBI
Madison Stokes, IF, .322 BA, 11 HR, 44 RBI
Jonah Bride, IF, .301 BA, 4 HR, 31 RBI
Carlos Cortes, IF/OF, .265 BA, 15 HR, 44 RBI
Cody Morris, P, 3.46 ERA, 9-3 W/L, 83.1 IP, 87 SO
Adam Hill, P, 4.12 ERA, 7-5 W/L, 83.0 IP, 101 SO
Eddy Demurias, P, 4.87 ERA, 64.2 IP, 51 SO
Key Returning Players:
Jacob Olson, UTL, .234 BA, 12 HR, 36 RBI
Noah Campbell, IF, .270 BA, 3 HR, 13 RBI
Projection:
Coach Kingston will have another tough year in season two of his reign in Columbia. The Gamecocks lose most of their top players from a year ago. There are a few experienced returning options like Jacob Olson. He belted 12 homeruns and drove in 36 runs. Chris Cullen is also an experienced senior and sophomore Noah Campbell has a lot of potential after batting .270 as a freshman. The pitching staff has young talent as well. Logan Chapman, Ridge Chapman and Carmen Mlodzinski all started at least a handful of games last season. Logan Chapman started 14 games as a freshman, but was very inconsistent and the story was usually the same for senior Ridge Chapman and sophomore Mlodzinski. If those three can provide some consistency and leadership on the mound, South Carolina will be in good shape. But more importantly the Gamecocks will need some of the many junior college transfers and incoming freshmen to fill in the gaps. This is a talented group, but they are very young too. It may take a little time for Coach Kingston to put the pieces together, but he is starting to rebuild this program and the talent is there for another late season surge to get South Carolina back into the NCAA Tournament.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
