Gamecock southpaw enters transfer portal
South Carolina baseball will likely be down a left-handed arm on the mound this season, as junior Dylan Harley has entered the transfer portal, a team spokesman confirmed to The State on Wednesday.
Harley, a Summerville native, missed all of 2020 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. As a freshman, though, he started five games and made 22 total appearances, with a 3-4 record and 9.58 ERA. He was in the Gamecocks’ opening weekend rotation against Liberty after an impressive fall and preseason in which he reached mid 90s with his fastball.
After that, however, he mostly came out of the bullpen, picking up his first career win in a midweek game against Furman while going 3 2/3 innings. He finished the season with 52 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings, but also 30 walks and 40 hits allowed.
Harley’s departure leaves USC with seven left-handed pitchers on the roster, including likely starter Julian Bosnic and well-regarded freshmen Jackson Phipps and Magdiel Cotto.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of the 2020 season, the NCAA lifted its roster limits for 2021, allowing teams to carry more than 35 players. At South Carolina, coach Mark Kingston said he has been told to keep his roster at 40 players to comply with Title IX. With Harley’s depature, the Gamecocks’ current roster lists 40 players.
South Carolina baseball
Preseason rank: No. 18 in D1Baseball Top 25
Opening Weekend series: vs. Dayton
▪ 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19
▪ 1 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 20
▪ 12 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21
Season schedule note: The Gamecocks are scheduled to play eight opponents ranked in D1Baseball’s top 25, including seven of the top 12. Their SEC schedule opens with a bang against No. 4 Vanderbilt, then No. 1 Florida.
3 players to watch: Julian Bosnic, LHP; Brennan Milone, 3B; Wes Clarke, 1B
Founders Park capacity: limited to 2,100
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 11:54 AM.
