Three lessons learned about USC baseball with Clemson series looming
Rivalry week is here.
The No. 23 South Carolina baseball team is off to a perfect 8-0 start in non-conference play, but the difficulty will ramp up when USC takes on rival Clemson this weekend.
Here are three key takeaways about Mark Kingston’s team following the Gamecocks’ sweep of a feisty Penn team.
Gamecocks found their closer
Because of widespread pitching injuries last season, the Gamecocks leaned heavily on its underclassmen to close out games in the late innings. At various stretches of the season, freshmen Matthew Becker (4 saves), Cade Austin (2 saves) and even two-way shortstop Michael Braswell (3 saves) served as closer.
This season, Presbyterian sophomore transfer Chris Veach has staked an early claim to the role.
The Gamecocks didn’t need to use a closer through their first five games — all blowouts — but they played a series of close games against the Quakers, and Veach earned hard-fought saves both Friday night and Sunday. The former Chapin High standout hasn’t allowed a hit in 3.1 innings this season, walking just one and striking out five. He throws a lively 94-mph fastball and pairs it with a swing-and-miss changeup.
But what stands out to Kingston even more about Veach are his command and composure on the mound.
“When your team has been fighting their butts off for three and a half hours and you’re the guy that has to get the last three outs and you have the crowd, it takes a little something different. And he definitely has that ‘it’ factor,” Kingston said. “He’s a competitor. ... He has the stuff, he has the command, and he has the heart to get it done.”
Newcomers have serious power
Kingston has said the Gamecocks have tried to follow Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle’s 2021-22 model of loading up on transfer bats to support a strong pitching staff. Through eight games, the new-look lineup has shown it has plenty of pop.
The Gamecocks have 26 home runs in eight games this season, and 16 of those have come from new faces. Veteran transfers Caleb Denny, Gavin Casas and Will McGillis have each made an impact at the plate. Denny (2 HR) leads the team with 18 RBIs and is hitting .419 as a steady middle of the order threat. And Casas (5 HR) and McGillis (4 HR) have changed games with big swings, including back-to-back jacks in the eighth inning of Sunday’s 6-5 win over Penn.
Freshman Ethan Petry could be the strongest of them all. The burly 6-foot-4, 230-pound right-handed hitter has hit five home runs this season and leads the team in slugging. Petry drew draft interest out of high school in Florida and has already had scouts buzzing this season despite not being eligible for the next two drafts.
Can USC handle tougher pitching?
The Gamecocks have not played a difficult non-conference schedule to this point. Their strength of schedule ranks 252nd (out of 302) in the country, according to WarrenNolan.com. While the offense has looked potent through eight games, there’s no telling how the Gamecock bats will adjust to the higher velocity of SEC pitchers.
The series against Penn offered a possible glimpse. Several of the Quakers’ pitchers sat in the low 90s with their fastballs and threw from a variety of arm angles, and the Gamecock offense stalled for long stretches. USC scored just one run in Saturday’s pitcher’s duel. And in Sunday’s game, the Penn pitching staff gifted USC 18 baserunners (11 BB and 7 HBP), yet the Gamecocks stranded the bases loaded four times and left 19 men on base.
In recent seasons, USC’s offense hit a wall against tougher pitching staffs in conference play. A similar homer-heavy lineup in 2021 was hampered by strikeouts late in the season and especially struggled offensively in the NCAA regional in Columbia.
That doesn’t mean the same will happen for this group, but it’s worth watching how these hitters adjust moving forward. New hitting coach — and former Clemson head coach — Monte Lee could be a key factor in making sure the Gamecock hitters don’t hit the same late-season lull of years past.
Next four USC baseball games
Tuesday: vs. North Carolina A&T, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Friday: at Clemson, 6 p.m. (ACC Network Extra)
Saturday: vs. Clemson, 1 p.m., Fluor Field in Greenville (SEC Network Plus)
Sunday: vs. Clemson, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published February 27, 2023 at 8:30 AM with the headline "Three lessons learned about USC baseball with Clemson series looming."
