What we learned from South Carolina’s season-opening sweep of Holy Cross
After the opening weekend of the 2020 season, South Carolina baseball has a record of 3-0 in two and a half games — rain ended Sunday’s series finale against Holy Cross at four and a half innings with USC up 5-0, just enough to make it official.
Coming off a 10-0 victory Friday and 9-4 win Saturday, the Gamecocks completed their first sweep to open a season since 2016. The Crusaders aren’t expected to be all that good this year, but it was still a welcome start after the sour ending to last year.
Coach Mark Kingston noted on Sunday that less than 23 innings of baseball isn’t enough to draw any final conclusions about this squad. But after months of scrimmages and preparation, there’s still some lessons to be learned from the first competitive baseball of the year.
The starting pitching looks good
Redshirt sophomore Carmen Mlodzinski looked every bit the first round pick he’s projected to be in this year’s MLB Draft, sophomore Brett Kerry struck out 12 and junior Brannon Jordan threw five shutout innings in steady rain. All in all, it was a good start in an area where the Gamecocks struggled mightily last year.
Mlodzinski’s seven shutout innings gave him his first win in a Gamecock uniform in more than a year. His velocity was in high 90s, his off-speed stuff was devastating and most importantly he was efficient, needing just 87 pitches to get 21 outs. If it was later in the year, he’d likely have come out for the eighth inning.
“I would say just trusting my fastball is something that I’ve definitely grown on in the past year, and just being able to trust the movement and trust your defense behind you, that they’re going to make good plays like they did today,” Mlodzinski said of the reasons for his improved efficiency.
Kerry wasn’t quite as efficient, only going five innings Saturday, but his stuff completely bamboozled the Crusaders.
“Getting ahead, and I also feel like my fastball had some life on it, so I could elevate later in counts, so I could get some good swing and misses,” Kerry said of the key to his strikeouts.
And Jordan gave up two hits and no walks while striking out nine in terrible conditions. He was at 69 pitches when the game was called and might have been able to go a few frames longer.
“The rain doesn’t bother me too much, as long as my hand can stay dry and, you know, get some texture on the ball,” Jordan said.
All told, the Gamecock starters pitched 17 innings, gave up three earned runs, walked one and struck out 24 on the weekend.
Braylen Wimmer seizes control of second base
Second base was one of the most contested positions in the preseason for the Gamecocks — incumbent starter Noah Campbell was locked in a battle with JUCO transfer Jeff Heinrich and freshman Braylen Wimmer.
In the end, Wimmer got the nod after emerging as one the team’s best overall players in spring scrimmages. And he rewarded Kingston with a 4-for-9 opening weekend at the plate with three runs scored, three runs driven in and two stolen bases. He also made some strong plays in the field to look like an everyday guy moving forward.
“He showed what we had been seeing all spring — that he was ready to play, that he could handle it from a maturity standpoint, and he’s a player,” Kingston said. “Obviously he’ll have growing pains like everybody does, but he’s mature, he’s extremely athletic, he’s fast, he’s rangy, and he’s been taking good at-bats.”
And Wimmer’s competition has, for the moment, cleared out as well — Campbell started all three games this weekend in left field, and Heinrich came in at third base after starter Brennan Milone tweaked his hip flexor Saturday and missed the series finale.
‘Work in progress’ offense
Last year, South Carolina’s offense was feast or famine due to its reliance on home runs — the Gamecocks finished 15th nationally in home runs per game, but tied for 162nd in runs and 277th in batting average.
This weekend, the Gamecocks homered five times, or roughly two every nine innings. But they also stole 11 bases and drew 17 walks. On Sunday, they scored four runs in an inning without a hit leaving the infield, with four walks, three hit batters and one single.
“Any team wants to be balanced and have multiple ways to score,” Kingston said. “We scored with power, we stole some bases, we got a safety squeeze down. You just have to be multi-dimensional if you’re going to be good at this level.”
Still, there were some early disappointments — opening day starters Brady Allen, Dallas Beaver and Bryant Bowen each had only one hit on the weekend, and Milone’s injury, though not expected to be long-lasting, did rob the Gamecocks of a key bat in the middle of the lineup.
“Our lineup will continue to be a work in progress, and as we get more information on them — how they do vs. lefties, how they do vs. righties. Again, I mentioned the conditions weather-wise may have something to do with how we formulate a lineup ... we’ll continue to be a work in progress, but the good thing is, we have options,” Kingston said.
When do the Gamecocks play next?
Who: South Carolina (3-0) vs. Winthrop (3-0)
When: 4 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Founders Park
TV: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Radio: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
