Incoming Gamecock takes home MVP, batting title before coming to Columbia

South Carolina baseball is losing most of its offensive firepower from the 2018 squad that advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals.

But based off the summer league performance of at least one incoming junior college transfer, Mark Kingston’s Gamecocks will still have some pop for 2019.

Andrew Eyster, who has twice been selected in the MLB Draft, comes to USC after a season at Sante Fe College in Florida. This summer, he spent time playing in the Valley Baseball League, one of the oldest wooden bat collegiate leagues in the country, and he tore through the competition, batting .421 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs in 32 games.

And Eyster’s summer doesn’t seem to be an aberration — he also hit over .400 in the junior college ranks. The outfielder will likely start for the Gamecocks in 2019.

In addition to Eyster, returning sophomore Noah Campbell shone in the Cape Cod Baseball League, finishing second among all players with a .364 batting average in the regular season. He also had 15 extra base hits and 26 RBIs in 32 games.

Campbell and Eyster will be key for Kingston as he enters his second season having to replace eight of nine players in his Super Regional lineup and two-thirds of his weekend rotation. According to reports, fans will get their first glimpse of the new Gamecocks in action as a team during a fall scrimmage against North Carolina State in September.