USC baseball: Five story lines for the upcoming season

Relying on righties

For the first time since 2007, South Carolina will open the season with three right-handed pitchers in its weekend rotation. Clarke Schmidt will pitch Friday, Braden Webb will start Saturday and Taylor Widener will get the ball on Sunday. USC has only two healthy left-handed pitchers on its roster with at least an inning of experience on the Division I level.

Position battles to be decided

Gamecocks coach Chad Holbrook said he has 14 position players battling for nine spots. It’s likely permanent positions won’t be decided until several games into the season. Holbrook’s expected to give several players the opportunity to play in games early and will base decisions on how well guys perform as the season progresses.

Can McIlwain handle football and baseball?

Playing two sports in college is a tough task. It’s even harder to do when you are still supposed to be in high school. Brandon McIlwain will trade in his baseball cap for a football helmet several times this spring as he tries to earn a starting spot in the outfield and a starting quarterback job. It will be interesting to see how well he handles the busy workload and what USC does to help him out.

Who’s the hitting leader?

USC had three players bat better than .300 last season, but none return. The leading returning hitter is Gene Cone, who hit .257 a year ago. The most likely candidate to step up and be USC’s best hitter is junior college transfer Dom Thompson-Williams.

Can newcomers live up to hype?

The Gamecocks brought in one of the top recruiting classes in the country for 2016 and will rely on those players for immediate help after missing the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Pitcher Braden Webb, infielders LT Tolbert and Jonah Bride, catchers Chris Cullen and John Jones and outfielders TJ Hopkins, McIlwain and Thompson-Williams have a chance to be major contributors this season. How well the group performs could go a long way toward deciding if the Gamecocks return to the NCAA Tournament.

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 8:19 PM.