Gamecocks putting up serious power numbers so far this year
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASEBALL
Just because South Carolina lost eight of the nine starters from the final game of last season doesn’t mean Mark Kingston expected the Gamecocks’ power numbers to dip.
He had a good feeling about a young, inexperienced group of Gamecock bats, but the only question was how long would it take them to adjust.
Seven games and 16 home runs in, it seems like the Gamecocks (6-1) are adjusting just fine.
“We’ve been talking about it all preseason that we thought statistically and analytically we had as much strength and power as we had last year though we lost a ton of guys,” Kingston said. “It was just a matter of they’re not as experienced, so would it show up in games yet? So far it has. Now it’s still a long way to go but we’re getting good power production so far.”
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The Gamecocks are slashing .282/.405/.571 this season with over half of their 67 hits (34) going for extra bases. Of the nine batters with at least 15 at-bats, all but one has an extra base hit with three players—Jacob Olson, Chris Cullen and Noah Campbell having three home runs apiece.
The Gamecocks have been on a power surge through seven games this season and are trying to put Kingston and the coaching staff’s philosophy of “disciplined aggression” to work.
The theory is simple: if a hitter gets a pitch he could drive early in the count, attack it. If not, then wait for that hitter’s pitch and try to drive that for extra bases.
So far, that strategy is working.
“It’s easy to get anxious up there and a little antsy and start chasing stuff in the dirt and looking for your pitch,” Andrew Eyster said. “They preach disciplined aggression to us. We try not to miss our pitch, our fastball or hanging breaking ball. But you also have to be able to lay off the soft stuff down or a breaking ball in the dirt. I think we’ve done a good job of it, especially this weekend.”
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This weekend, in a sweep over Utah Valley, the lineup was able to take advantage of some mistakes from the Wolverine pitching staff and had their best power output of the young season.
Hitters slashed .314/.440/.686 this weekend with 31 runs (more than 10 runs per game) and walked 17 times. They had 32 hits over three games with 17 of those going for extra bases: six doubles, one triple and 10 home runs, five of which came Sunday.
Campbell was able to get going after a rough opening day, hitting a home run in all three games, including the two-run walk-off Saturday.
Eyster also hit his first home run of his season Sunday, a 465-foot bomb to center field, capping a three-hit day that included two extra-base hits. Eyster came into Sunday hitting .227 and is now hitting .308 while slugging .500.
“I had a rough day yesterday but before that I hit some balls hard and didn’t have a lot to show for it. I’m trusting my approach and what I’ve been doing all my life but at the same time there are a couple adjustments you make,” Eyster said. “Coach Kingston had me choke up a little bit and had some good results today.”
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The Gamecocks now get a little bit of a tougher test with the annual Clemson series scheduled for this weekend, but right now confidence is at an all-time high with four players hitting over .300 and six players slugging at least .550, including freshman Brady Allen at .591.
“I feel bad for the coaches because you can put anyone anywhere and you’ll have great results,” Cullen said. “Brady’s young and he’s shown great things so far early in the season, which is great to see and promising to see. With him hitting in front of me, we just go up there and try to hit the ball up the middle and try to drive in runs when they’re on base.”