Film study helps USC improve hitters’ approach at the plate

South Carolina struck out 15 times over the final two games of its series against Wright State over the weekend and Gamecocks coach Chad Holbrook sensed that his team’s plate approach had to change.

USC’s hitters were swinging at too many pitches out of the strike zone and not taking aggressive swings at pitches in the strike zone.

“We need to be smarter,” Holbrook said after Sunday’s loss. “Sometimes we’re chasing pitches that we really can’t put the bat on the ball, and that’s putting us in a hole.”

USC’s hitters spent Monday reviewing film in an effort to improve their offensive approach.

It paid off against Appalachian State on Tuesday as USC struck out only once, hit three home runs and had 10 hits in an 8-4 victory. The Gamecocks hope that production will carry over into this weekend’s series against Clemson.

“We went through every at bat and watched what pitches we were swinging at and what counts we were hitting the ball in,” USC second baseman LT Tolbert said. “It lets us see when we’re getting in good counts we’ve got to keep putting aggressive swings on it, and when we get two strikes we’ve got to make them throw strikes and work to put the ball in play.”

Tolbert and catcher Chris Cullen entered Tuesday in a funk but both busted out of slumps.

Tolbert had three hits with a pair of RBIs, while Cullen added a pair of hits and blasted a three-run homer, his first of the year. Tolbert entered the game hitting .222 in six games, while Cullen had only two hits in 16 at bats.

Cullen, who Holbrook predicted in the preseason would have a big year, was on the bench Saturday and Sunday before being inserted back into the starting lineup on Tuesday.

“I agree with the coaches giving me a few days off and getting my head straight and not completely ruining my confidence,” Cullen said. “You’ve got to sit back from the game for a second and not think too much when you go up to the plate. I cleared everything out of my head and had fun.”

In addition to Cullen and Tolbert, sophomore Jacob Olson had a big game with a pair of home runs, while Jonah Bride, Matt Williams and Carlos Cortes added hits.

“I think they absorbed some of the things that they witnessed on video and they tried like crazy to apply it against a really good pitcher,” Holbrook said. “I’m proud of what we did in the batter’s box.”

This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Film study helps USC improve hitters’ approach at the plate."