Watching Matt Williams hit these days, it’s understandably easy to forget the junior from Honea Path had just 34 career at-bats coming into the 2017 season.
Seldom utilized his first two years in the program, Williams early season explosion at the plate continued in Saturday’s 5-2 victory over Michigan State as he collected a homer, two singles, one RBI and two runs scored against Spartan pitching.
Sixteen games into the 2017 campaign, Williams already has 12 more at-bats in the first four weekends than he did in his first two years.
And deservingly so.
Williams carries a robust .413 batting average (19-46) and .500 on-base percentage into Sunday’s series finale, all while trying to master a new position – first base.
“I feel good,” Williams told reporters after Saturday’s late afternoon win over MSU improved the Gamecocks to 11-5 overall. “I’m just trying to put some good at-bats together, see some pitches and make the pitcher work. It’s all about pitch selection and being patient and getting your pitch. We get into trouble when we get ourselves out. You just have to pick a good pitch to hit and unload on it.”
Williams's three hits Saturday extended his on-base streak to 14 games, and he has a hit in 13 of USC's last 14 games.
Williams was fed a steady diet of sliders throughout his first two at-bats in Saturday’s win, so when he swatted a 2-2 pitch for his solo homer leading off the bottom of the fifth, he was ready.
“I was pretty much sitting on slider the entire at-bat because I saw it a good bit in my previous at-bats,” Williams said. “He hung a slider and I was able to put a good swing on it.”
Before he became a terror at the plate, though, Williams had to practice patience and wait his turn before earning a spot in the starting lineup.
His patience is paying dividends this season. Williams committed to the Gamecocks a year or two after the Gamecocks completed a three-year run of reaching the national championship series in Omaha. Thus, he was well aware earning a spot in the starting lineup would be challenging.
“From the start, Coach Holbrook told me I was eventually going to be a big part of the program,” Williams said. “I trusted him and was patent. Now it’s paying off. (This is) a big program, so I didn’t mind (not playing). There were some great players ahead of me. I just wanted to be a part of the team. Eventually, I got a shot.”
Ironically, his chance for playing time didn't come as an infielder on the left side, the positions he was mainly recruited to play. Instead, he has become USC's regular first baseman.
"The ball comes off the bench differently, but its not that bad," Williams said. "The hardest part was learning how to stretch for balls and going to get them. You have to be locked in every pitch."
Son of a coach, Williams frequently acts as a mentor on the bench to the younger players.
“He’s been a steady influence,” Chad Holbrook said. “He watches the game. He learns from at-bat to at-bat. He takes his walks. He’s walked more than he has struckout this season (7 BB, 5 K). He gives you a good quality at-bat each and every time.
“If we can get some of our guys that hit in the middle to feed off Matt, we have the capability of being a very good offensive team. I hope our other guys are watching Matt and watching his approach and how he plays the game.”
Williams willingness to spray the ball all over the field makes him more dangerous at the plate.
“He uses the whole field,” Holbrook said. “That makes it tough to pitch to him. Pitchers don’t know how to attack him and makes it tough to defend him. He does a great job with two strikes and use the other side of the field.
“Intellectually, he’s very sound as a hitter. That’s a lot of battle when you’re in the batter’s box. He thinks the game and understands it. He’s putting that to use right now.”
Williams said his aptitude for hitting the ball to the opposite field is a skill born of necessity.
“Ninety percent of the pitches we get are off the plate away,” Williams said. “I just get on the dish and try to serve the ball the other side of the field and use the whole field. There are a lot of hits on the left side for me.”
A keen knowledge of the game and greater confidence in himself and by his teammates has bolstered Williams’ efforts to earn a starting job.
Saturday marked his 12th start of the season at first base, and the eighth time he has batted third in the order.
“He is one of our best coaches in the dugout. It has been neat to watch him grow,” Holbrook said. “Maybe we should have been playing a lot more until now. Maybe we should have played him more last year. Sometimes you don’t know until you put a guy into the game for a consistent period of time.”
