3 observations from South Carolina baseball’s scrimmage vs. NC State

In a program first this Saturday, South Carolina baseball took the field in autumn and played a team that wasn’t itself.

It didn’t last very long.

USC and NC State made it through four and a half innings at Founders Park before steady rain forced a delay. Lightning strikes were then detected in the area just as the rain lightened up, and the head coaches from both teams agreed to end the scrimmage early. The Gamecocks were leading at the time, 2-1, technically giving them the win.

Coach Mark Kingston said before the game that a victory would be secondary to giving his roster full of newcomers their first in-game action. Sure enough, of the 12 USC players who saw the field Saturday, seven were not on Kingston’s squad this past spring and two more appeared in fewer than half Carolina’s game last year.

So what did they show Kingston and the several hundred fans in attendance?

PITCHING

South Carolina trotted out three pitchers over five innings — freshmen Julian Bosnic and Dylan Harley started and closed the game, respectively, while junior college transfer Hayden Lehman threw two frames in between.

Harley’s inning came after the rain started, and his control seemed to dip as a result, but he still struck out two while allowing no runs.

Bosnic, on the other hand, hit the very first batter he faced and ended up walking two, allowing two hits and giving up NC State’s only run of the afternoon. His fastball touched the upper 80s in velocity, but he sometimes struggled to hit his spots and ended up deep in counts against most batters.

“It was a little up and down, a little uneven,” Kingston said of Bosnic’s performance. “What I didn’t like was his fastball command was below average and he walked some guys. What I did like was he kept his poise and he got out of two innings only giving up the one run.”

Lehman, meanwhile, cruised through his outing, fanning two batters, inducing two ground outs and two fly outs and not allowing a hit or walk for a perfect day.

Lehman posted an 8-1 record and 1.56 ERA on the JUCO level last season and has looked sharp throughout fall scrimmages so far, most recently throwing two shutout frames on Tuesday. His velocity Saturday was up and his offspeed pitches had lots of movement.

“Hayden did a really nice job today,” Kingston said. “He’s a guy that we look at as a potential starter or a back of the bullpen guy. Fastball was 90 to 92 (miles per hour), good breaking ball, he threw strikes. So that will give him options. It’s just a matter of finding out where he fits.”

POWER PLAY

South Carolina’s offense produced two hits Saturday, and both landed in almost the exact same spot — in the stands beyond the left field corner.

USC finished 2018 tied for fourth in the SEC in home runs, and the power surge continued early Saturday, with leadoff hitter Noah Campbell smashing the first pitch he saw for a line drive home run. Junior college transfer Andrew Eyster followed in the fourth with a solo shot of his own.

Eyster’s power is nothing new — he hit 13 homers in 49 games in junior college last year — but Kingston said he was pleased with patience at the plate as well.

“That’s a guy we brought in to try to hit in the middle of our order, and so he did a good job laying off a first pitch offspeed pitch in the dirt, and then he got a 1-0 fastball and he hit it in the seats,” Kingston said.

Campbell, meanwhile, hit just three home runs in the 2018 season but exploded this summer in the Cape Cod League, and Saturday’s long ball was just more evidence of his increased pop, Kingston said.

“He set the tone there as a leadoff hitter hitting a home run. I like to see that,” Kingston said. “He’s getting better, no question. That’s what you want to see with your players, is they get better each year. He had a great summer in the Cape Cod League.

“His exit velocity off our TrackMan data is getting higher. It’s four or five miles per hour higher than it was at this point last year. So that definitely shows good progress, and velocity will lead to more power.”

WHAT WE STILL HAVEN’T SEEN

The weather and injuries kept fans from seeing most of South Carolina’s full team Saturday.

Kingston said senior utility player Jacob Olson, freshman catcher Wes Clarke and junior transfer infielder Nick Neville were held out as a precaution due to previous injuries. Other potential role players like freshman outfielder Xavier Bussey, junior infielder Quinntin Perez, sophomore infielder Jordan Holladay and freshman infielder Jacob English all would have likely played had the game lasted longer, so fans are still waiting to see them face opposing pitchers.

On the mound, the Gamecocks likely would have thrown at least three more pitchers had the contest continued, and even evaluating Harley’s performance is difficult given the conditions.

This story was originally published September 29, 2018 at 4:37 PM.