Few teams in the country have gotten off to the start South Carolina has offensively from a power standpoint this year, but Mark Kingston isn’t ready to start planning a parade route or buying confetti just yet.
In fairness, he shouldn’t be; it’s an incredibly limited sample size so far of four games and the hitters still have to mash like they’re doing against Power 5 teams, but the Gamecock head coach is certainly pleased with what he’s seeing so far at the plate.
“We’re not going to throw any parades or celebrations,” Kingston said, “but so far we’re seeing what we’ve worked on so hard for the last nine months and the years in recruiting as well.”
Also see: Latest football recruiting scoop
It’s been a near-perfect start for South Carolina at the plate, with the Gamecocks’ power surge pacing them to four straight wins to open the year.
South Carolina is leading the country in slugging percentage by a wide margin at .775 and have the nation’s best home run totals as a team (14) but aren’t hitting home runs while forsaking base runners.
The Gamecocks are eighth nationally in team batting average at .359 and 18th in the country with an on base percentage of .441.
“It’s something we want to be known for. We want quality hitters that are strong and have power, not just power hitters who are feast or famine,” Kingston said. “That’s what good offenses are: good hitters one through nine and you have a number of guys who are strong enough to drive the ball with power. To me that’s what we’re showing so far.”
Also see: Looking at quarterback recruiting for the 2022 class
Stuart Lake is in his second season as the team’s full-time hitting coach and his first was cut short because of the pandemic.
It’s in an incredibly short amount of games but the Gamecocks (4-0) have shown a better approach at the plate so far.
They’re averaging over 10 runs per game but hitting .366 with two outs and .302 with runners in scoring position.
The power numbers are coming because of the team’s approach; of their 51 hits this season, 29 have gone for extra bases: 14 home runs, 13 doubles and two triples.
“With our approach we’re able to hit our doubles, take our singles with two-strike hits. Approach isn’t going to be to go big in every at-bat. I think we need to trust our approach. The home runs will come with good approaches,” George Callil said. “That’s not what we’re searching for, but with the same approach we’ve been sticking to those power numbers will continue to show.”
Also see: Insider notes on the latest baseball commitment
Now the No. 16/17 Gamecocks will have their toughest test of the season yet against a Clemson pitching staff led by preseason All-American Davis Sharpe, who was scheduled to start on Friday.
So far this year Clemson’s had 10 pitchers throw. Through three games, all wins, the staff’s put up a 1.93 ERA in 28 innings with a .188 batting average against, 32 strikeouts and seven walks.
Our mindset is let’s go play quality baseball, let’s play to our potential. The chips fall where they may after that. If you concern with too many things you get distracted. When you’re distracted you’re not focused and when you’re not focused you don’t play at your peak performance level,” Kingston said.
“Our goal is to stay focused on what we need to do, whether it’s Clemson, LSU, Vanderbilt, Florida or whoever the case may be. You have to have that focus if you’re going to be a peak performer.”
