After Super Regional run, USC starts this fall back at ‘square one’

South Carolina baseball lost a large chunk of the core of the 2018 team that advanced to within one win of the College World Series, and fans are just starting to get a peek at what the Gamecocks might look like in Year 2 under coach Mark Kingston with fall scrimmages underway.

But, as Kingston told media on Wednesday, with as much turnover as USC had over the summer, Year 2 under his regime has started, at least somewhat, like Year 1 did — with lots of work to do.

“We lost a lot,” Kingston said. “I wouldn’t say we’re where we want to be yet, where we can say we are legitimate national championship contenders from day one of fall ball. We’re not to that point yet. But does that mean we can’t have a really good season? We can have a really good season. I see a lot of talent out on the field, but I don’t think, as a coach here, I’ll ever be satisfied and say we have it exactly how we want it.”

Across the field and on the mound, Kingston said, there are few positions where the Opening Day starter is clear to the coaching staff. And with only a few full team practices under their belt so far, he’s unwilling to make any sweeping observations about the state of the 2019 team, besides the fact that it will, obviously, look a lot different.

“The tough thing is, we got it to where we wanted it last year, and now so many of those players are gone, so it’s almost like we’re starting over from square one and now we have to reinstitute, we have to reteach and get everyone back up to speed so we can get back to that point,” Kingston explained. “I can assure you how we felt about how everyone was going about their business at Arkansas last year as we finished the year is a lot different than how we feel about the team right now.

“It’s a process. Coaches say it all the time. If that was chapter 25, we’re back in chapter 1 right now, where we’re trying to reinstitute everything and teach these new guys how it should be done. There’s a long way to go.”

Elite core

That being said, there are a number of players Kingston said will be central to his plans for the season — sophomore second baseman Noah Campbell, senior outfielder T.J. Hopkins, senior utility player Jacob Olson, who can play both the infield and outfield, and junior college transfer Andrew Eyster.

“(Hopkins is) an elite player. Olson’s an elite player, Campbell’s an elite player, so that’s a good starting point for our offense, and now it’s a matter of getting everyone else where we want them,” Kingston said.

“(Eyster is) a big, strong guy and appears to be a very natural hitter. Has big-time pop, his numbers on our HitTrax system have been extremely impressive already. His first scrimmage [Tuesday] in our uniform, he was 2-for-2. So he’s a guy that will definitely have a major impact for us this year. Where he plays is still to be determined. He needs to make improvements defensively, but he’s a guy our fans should be very excited about.”

Injury report

The concern with Hopkins, however, is his extensive injury history — he reportedly played through a broken back this past season. As a result, Kingston said his at-bats and reps in the field will be limited throughout the fall as a precaution.

Hopkins isn’t the only Gamecock battling injuries through the start of practice. Kingston announced Wednesday that senior reliever Graham Lawson underwent Tommy John surgery during the offseason and will redshirt. Fellow senior pitcher Ridge Chapman also had a procedure during the offseason and will be sidelined throughout the fall.

Sophomore outfielder Ian Jenkins and senior catcher Chris Cullen are also nursing back injuries, Kingston said, though Cullen was able to scrimmage Tuesday and Wednesday.

Pitching concerns

On the mound, South Carolina lacked depth throughout last season, Kingston said, even as the team advanced deep into the NCAA tournament and started firing on all cylinders in other aspects of the game. With that in mind, he said he wants the team’s trio of rising sophomores who saw extensive action last year — Carmen Mlodzinski, Logan Chapman and John Gilreath — to show substantial growth.

Helping that process along will be pitching coach Skylar Meade, who is going through his first fall in Columbia after being hired by USC last November in the wake of longtime coach Jerry Meyers retiring. Meade’s presence this fall will be a “big deal,” Kingston said.

“Him coming with us half-stream last year was a challenge, trying to figure out what he had, how he was gonna use guys, what they needed to do, what pitches they threw in spots, he just had to try to figure that out as we went,” Kingston said. “This year, he’s with us from day one, and I think, in terms of how he wants to train them, learning their personalities, learning what they have, what’s their ups, what’s their downs, what makes them tick, how to coach them. ... He’ll be so much more ahead of the game this year going into Opening Day.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2018 at 5:16 PM.