USC baseball fall wrapup: Pitchers had the upper hand

South Carolina’s pitching staff dominated the hitters for most of the fall. Only time will tell if that is good or bad.

“Well we’re either really, really good on the mound or it’s going to be difficult to score,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said Wednesday. “I hope our pitchers were the reason why we struggled offensively.”

Holbrook is optimistic his team will bounce back this season after missing out on the NCAA Tournament last year. Carolina completed fall practice earlier this month, and Holbrook said he believes the Gamecocks should be solid offensively in the spring.

Outfielders Dom Thompson-Williams and Gene Cone, as well as catcher Chris Cullen, missed part of the spring with injures. All are expected to be healthy and contributors with Thompson-Williams set to bat in the middle of the lineup.

Holbrook said several position players who are expected to contribute this year hit well during the fall.

“I can name about six guys right now that hit .300 that are going to be in the opening lineup,” he said. “There are a couple of other guys that have got to step up a little bit.”

One pleasant surprise this fall was the play of infielder Jonah Bride. The sophomore hit .471 with 14 home runs and 93 RBIs in junior college last year.

Bride led USC in hitting with a .395 average in the fall and made a case for joining Thompson-Williams and Alex Destino in the heart of the Gamecocks’ lineup.

“I went into the fall thinking, ‘Ok, who’s going to hit behind Destino and Dom?’ Right now I think Jonah is,” Holbrook said. “He did everything that we asked him to do. He was probably our most consistent performer all fall.”

Holbrook said sophomore Madison Stokes, out of A.C. Flora High, could also hit in the middle of the lineup. Stokes hit .207 in 25 games last year but was impressive at the plate this fall.

On the mound the Gamecocks will likely be without ace Wil Crowe and potential weekend starter Cody Morris for the entire season, but Holbrook isn’t ready to make that decision yet.

“I don’t have to make that decision until we open up,” Holbrook said. “I think it’s my job to protect Wil and Cody to make sure that we put them back out there when they’re healthy, when they’re completely healthy and completely ready to go. Could it be this year? I’m not going to rule it out. But I doubt it.”

In the meantime, Clarke Schmidt has positioned himself to be South Carolina’s Friday night starter. The sophomore went 2-2 with a 4.81 ERA in 18 appearances last season and pitched ewell all fall.

“Clarke Schmidt, I don’t know how you could have had a much more impressive fall than what he had,” Holbrook said. “Much improved, velocity’s up, breaking ball’s better, command’s a lot better. He’s a different guy than he was a year ago.”

The rest weekend rotation is up in the air. Holbrook said freshman Braden Webb and juniors Colie Bowers, Josh Reagan and Taylor Widener are among the options.