Reed Scott has progressed from a thrower to a pitcher at USC

Reed Scott had the ability to get hitters out simply by throwing the ball by them during his high school years in Georgia, but he quickly realized when he got to South Carolina that it would take changing speeds and pinpoint accuracy to have the kind of success he sought.

The junior has improved in that area since arriving in Columbia, and is an important piece of a bullpen that’s helped the Gamecocks to a 38-1 record when leading after six innings entering the SEC Tournament on Wednesday.

“In high school, if I was throwing 85-86 that was considered pretty hard in high school, and I could get by with that. Then you get to the SEC and you realize that’s not the case at all. You realize that these hitters are going to hit that if you don’t hit your spot, if you don’t change speeds,” Scott said. “It’s definitely a wakeup call getting here and seeing that, and seeing some of the incredible hitters that we’ve faced over the past couple of years. It’s made me realize that I’ve got to focus on location.”

Scott has evolved from a guy who appeared mostly in midweek games as a freshman to someone USC’s coaching staff feels confident using in a number of different roles, including late in games.

He trails only Josh Reagan on the team in ERA at 2.63 and is tied for the team lead in appearances with 26. In SEC games, Scott is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA and one save in 21 innings.

“I’ll give him the ball anytime,” Carolina coach Chad Holbrook said. “Reed’s been terrific. We’ll go to him in the third inning, we’ll go to him in the seventh, we’ll go to him in the eighth or ninth. I know when we put Reed in the game, if we get beat it’s going to be because the opponent beat us. It’s not going to be because Reed panicked or threw the ball all over the place.”

Scott has been particularly good as of late. In his past 15 innings, he’s allowed one earned run, recorded two wins and a save. Those 15 innings are spread out over 10 outings, and in six of the 10 outings he didn’t allow a hit.

“I’m just trying to stay confident out there. It’s an up-and-down game and it’s tough,” Scott said. “I wasn’t blessed with that 98 miles an hour like Tyler (Johnson), but just location, movement and mixing pitches. I’ve never thrown hard, so I’ve always had to rely on that, just really trying to be a pitcher instead of a thrower.”

South Carolina ace Clarke Schmidt, who is 9-2 on the year, said he feels confident USC’s bullpen will finish off a win if he leaves the game with a lead.

Scott, Johnson and Reagan have combined for all of Carolina’s SEC-leading 22 saves.

“I’ve got the utmost confidence in Reed. As a starter, when you go into the sixth or seventh inning you feel like you’ve done your job,” Schmidt said. “When Reed goes out there, and him and Tyler and Josh go out there and shut it down, it’s special to see.”

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 7:56 PM.