Elbow injury to sideline Wil Crowe for 2015, 2016 seasons

South Carolina sophomore right-hander Wil Crowe will miss the remainder of the 2015 baseball season with a torn ulnar collateral ligament to his right elbow.

A surgery date has yet to be determined for Crowe, the Friday night starter who has struggled this season to a 3-4 record with a 4.91 ERA. His numbers this year were a far cry from a year ago, when he earned Freshman All-America honors from Baseball America with an 8-3 mark with a 2.75 ERA in 91 2/3 innings over 15 starts.

The injury comes at a tough time for the Gamecocks (23-15), who have lost nine of their last 12 SEC games. Without Crowe on the mound, the team will have to find a new starter for the weekend rotation.

“You don’t replace Wil Crowe. It’s going to take a group effort and a team effort,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said.

Holbrook glumly noted that an emotional Crowe came with his family to the baseball office Monday with the bad news.

“He’s an incredible kid to coach,” Holbrook said. “Wil exemplifies everything we want in a baseball player. This is a little setback for him, but he’s going to be OK.”

The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Crowe made the NCAA tournament All-Regional team last season after throwing a complete-game shutout against Campbell in an elimination game. But he had three poor outings this season against Clemson, Mississippi State and Florida that ballooned his numbers.

His location was not the same this season as well. He walked 19 batters all of last season, and he had already equaled that number on top of 52 hits in 51 1/3 innings this season.

With rehabilitation time from Tommy John surgery a lengthy process, Crowe will not take the mound for the Gamecocks in the 2016 season. He plans to take a medical redshirt season and be back healthy for the 2017 season.

Crowe stated that he has not experienced any extraordinary pain and didn't realize he had a more serious injury until the MRI.

“Honestly, I didn’t think I had an issue,” Crowe said. “I went into the doctor yesterday just believing that he was going to look at my elbow and say everything was fine and I was going to throw a bullpen tonight and get ready for the weekend. I didn’t think there was any problem. It’s been sore, normal soreness for probably the past month, but I just got used to it and kept throwing.”

The Sevierville, Tenn., native was drafted in the 31st round by the Cleveland Indians in the 2013 MLB draft. And he will still be eligible for the 2016 draft.

“I hope he hasn't thrown his last pitch here,” Holbrook said.

Crowe hopes to finish this season as the team’s top cheerleader.

“I’m going to do all I can as a vocal leader and vocal supporter to help them with anything they got as soon as I can,” Crowe said. “We don’t know when the surgery is, but whenever it is, I’m going to be back here with them and be back with my team. I love these guys and I want to be there to support them as much as I can.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2015 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Elbow injury to sideline Wil Crowe for 2015, 2016 seasons."