CCU Baseball Notebook: Beckwith to start CWS opener, Pearcey likely at second base

Coastal Carolina baseball coach Gary Gilmore provided answers to two big questions heading into the Chanticleers’ College World Series opener with top-seeded Florida on Sunday night.

Not surprisingly, junior right-hander Andrew Beckwith will start on the mound for the Chants, and while there’s no final decision just yet, freshman Cameron Pearcey will likely again fill in for injured second baseman Seth Lancaster.

Gilmore took the dais Friday morning with the head coaches from Texas Tech, TCU and Florida for the early interview session on the College World Series’ opening day, and afterward he talked more in-depth about setting his lineup for the first game.

“He’s just been our guy, so we’ll go from there,” Gilmore said of Beckwith.

The side-arming righty comes into the College World Series with a 12-1 record, 2.12 earned-run average and a 61-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 93 1/3 innings this season.

He also pitched the Chants’ NCAA super regionals opener at LSU last Saturday, giving up four runs on seven hits and no walks in 4 1/3 innings. He started that game with three scoreless innings before yielding a three-run homer in the fourth and would eventually take a no-decision as Coastal Carolina came back to win 11-8.

“I’m blessed to have the ball the first game. I can’t wait,” Beckwith said. “It’s a lot more people than LSU, but I don’t think it’s going to be as hectic, especially with supposedly we’re the hometown favorites [as the underdog story]. So hopefully we can get some fans out here to support us.”

As for second base, the Chants (49-16) were dealt a difficult blow when sophomore second baseman Seth Lancaster tore the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in his knee while coming in to score a late run in that game last Saturday. He’s out three months, leaving the team with a big hole to fill after he had batted .444 since May 6.

Gilmore’s main concern is on the defensive end, though, and he feels Pearcey is the most ready to step in there after working as the primary back-up all season. Senior first baseman Tyler Chadwick and sophomore centerfielder Billy Cooke also worked out at second this week.

“We’re still working a couple of guys. I’m probably leaning toward Pearcey at this point in time. He’s the guy that’s been working there all year,” Gilmore said. “It’s tough, it’s sped up on him a little bit right now. I think his brain’s got a lot of things flying around in it at this point. [We] just honestly don’t have a tremendous amount of options at this point in time this late in the year trying to teach someone else how to make this play or run this defense, things late in the game. So we’ll probably more than likely go that way.”

Pearcey, who is batting .167 in 36 at-bats, started for Lancaster in the super regional clincher Sunday, but he was charged with two costly errors in the ninth inning before the Chants pulled through for a 4-3 win. It was a tough spot for the rookie to be thrust into as he made his first start since March 22.

“Hopefully we’ll work on it some in the next couple of days just basically giving him confidence,” Gilmore said. “When you make a mistake or two, the good part for him it didn’t cost us an opportunity to get here. So hopefully he can learn from that. The environment can’t get a whole lot faster on him than where we were at and the moment he was in the other day at LSU. He’s a good player. If he can go out there and get a play under his belt it will help a lot.”

Respect

TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle and Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan both spoke about their respect for Gilmore and his Coastal Carolina program during the coaches’ news conference Friday.

As each coach made an introductory statement about being at the College World Series, Schlossnagle gave the first unprompted plug for Gilmore.

“I’ve admired his program from afar for a very long time and know what great teams he’s had and just a tremendous baseball program in Myrtle Beach, so I was very excited for him to have this opportunity,” he said.

And O’Sullivan, who was an assistant coach at Clemson from 1999-2007, quickly continued that thought when it was his turn.

“I’ve known Gary for many, many years from my time at Clemson and I’ve always respected Gary and his program and I know [associate head coach] Kevin Schnall very well,” he said. “Just awfully excited that Gary has an opportunity to do this because it’s obviously a long time coming. Certainly people in the baseball world know how good of a program Gary’s had for many, many years.”

Gilmore spoke last and thanked his counterparts for the compliments and later added that such moments – of which there have been plenty this week – have been humbling for him.

“I’ve known Schloss for a long time and I’ve known Sully for a long time too. They’ve seen all the years and hours, they know a lot of stuff about our program because of our relationship and stuff,” he said after the news conference. “It was extremely humbling and honoring to have them say those things about us completely unsolicited. I’ve gotten so many of those across the country, it’s been very humbling to me.”

First impressions in Omaha

Gilmore had made a point never to attend the College World Series until he coached in one, and as soon as the team landed in Omaha on Thursday afternoon they headed to TD Ameritrade Park for a tour as he got his first look.

“This place is an incredible facility, and then you walk outside and realize how truly big the playing surface is. It’s huge,” Gilmore said. “It will be interesting for us to get a chance to practice today and see how the ball flies and kind of really try to figure out a gameplan offensively from just how it reacts.”

That will no doubt be an added challenge for a team that has been led by the longball this season with an NCAA Division I-best 94 home runs.

But overall the Chants were impressed with the setting.

“It’s amazing. It’s like a big cathedral church. It’s awesome,” junior designated hitter G.K. Young said. “It’s the prettiest place I’ve ever seen, honestly.”

Said Beckwith: “It’s unbelievable. It’s totally different than what it looks like on TV, especially with no fans being here and to see how many people it does seat. But it’s a tradition around here and I can’t wait to play on this field.”

Health report

After missing practice Wednesday due to illness, junior designated hitter G.K. Young is doing well and should not be limited at all.

“He fully practiced yesterday so whatever that virus or whatever he had was, I feel like he ought to be 1,000 percent today,” Gilmore said.

Earlier in the week pitching coach Drew Thomas had said that freshman left-hander Austin Kitchen was making progress from a tricep injury and was on track to be available Sunday if his bullpen sessions went well.

“I threw today, probably 25 pitches, amped up a couple and felt fine,” Kitchen said after practice. “I threw strikes. The change-up, breaking ball, everything was working pretty well. I pounded the zone so everything felt pretty good. Tomorrow we’ll wait and see how it feels, but I’ll get with Barry [Lippman] our trainer and ice up, stretch a little bit and I should be good to go.”

Kitchen, the team’s only lefty, was nearly unhittable for much of the season before giving up nine runs in his last 2 1/3 innings – at least some of which involved pitching through this injury. Even still, he boasts a 4-0 record with a 3.19 ERA over 42 1/3 innings this year and would provide the Chants some much needed depth, in addition to a left-handed option out the bullpen.

“To some extent. I don’t want to make excuses and say that’s the reason why I got hit. I know at NC State it was absolutely hurting me, so that was the only game it really truly affected me,” Kitchen said. “... It was hard sitting out the rest of the Raleigh regional and especially down at LSU, but I’m excited to be here.”

Quotable

When Gilmore was asked how he thought his touted lineup matches up with Florida’s vaunted pitching and defense, he joked that only a big league team would match up well with that. Then he described his Chants as he sees them.

“Honestly, my team, I’m very, very proud of them. What we are is just a group of good baseball players,” he said. “We don’t have a superstar on our team. We don’t have a first-round draft pick guy. We’re just a bunch of good country ballplayers that show up and compete.”

This story was originally published June 17, 2016 at 1:44 PM with the headline "CCU Baseball Notebook: Beckwith to start CWS opener, Pearcey likely at second base."