Morgan providing calming influence on Gamecock rotation

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASEBALL

When you look at Reid Morgan, there’s a lot to take in at first glance. There’s long blond hair poking out of the back of his hat, curling at the end while tattoos dot almost every exposed inch of his arms.

His outward appearance conveys one sort of person, but when he steps onto a baseball field his persona is exactly the opposite and it’s helping not only his game but the entire Gamecock pitching staff.

“He’s a very calm guy. He’s a perfect example of don’t judge a book by its cover,” head coach Mark Kingston said. “He’s a great kid, and what you think when you see the tattoos and the long hair might think one thing. He’s a great teammate, great kid and comes from a great family.”

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Starting his career at Oklahoma State, Morgan bounced around from there to San Jacinto College before ultimately finding a home at South Carolina where he can be a mentor to some of South Carolina's young pitchers.

Now thrust into the Gamecocks’ starting rotation, he’s proving what a veteran, calming presence can do for this pitching staff.

Morgan’s 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA through two starts, spinning a gem of a game Sunday to help secure a sweep over Utah Valley and extend the team’s winning streak to six games.

After turning in a quality start in his first outing (six innings and three earned runs), Morgan responded with one of the best outings of a Gamecock pitcher in recent memory, giving up one earned run over eight innings pitched.

It was the longest outing from a Gamecock pitcher since Wil Crowe tossed eight innings against Mississippi State in 2017.

And for Morgan, it seemed like business as usual, with the only emotional outburst coming after he struck out Paul Estrada to strand a runner at third base in the eighth, walking to the dugout and letting out a “Let’s go!” as his brilliant outing ended.

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“He’s what you’re looking for,” Kingston said. “He calms everyone in the dugout because he commands the strike zone. He’s always pitching ahead in the count. He’s a very nice addition to our club this year.”

He threw just 99 pitches in eight innings, pounding the zone to the tune of 73 strikes.

Of the 30 batters he faced, only seven saw two-ball counts. Of those seven, only two went to 3-2 and both times Morgan struck out the hitter. In 14 innings this season, he still hasn’t walked a batter.

He did give up six hits and two more base runners reached on Gamecock errors, but every time something like that happened, Morgan’s unusually calm demeanor pulled through and he’d get out of the inning.

“I’ve always been told I’m a strike thrower. I’ve always been told I’m going to pound the zone and get people out,” he said. “I’m not going to be a big strikeout guy but I’m obviously going to get outs. There were a couple errors behind me, but I was like, ‘OK, whatever. Let’s go to the next guy.’ And I proceeded to get the next guy out. I had two guys 3-2 and it didn’t phase me one bit. I struck both of them out.”

Through two weeks of the season, Morgan’s now leading the team in ERA (1.29) and strikeouts (12) while having the third-lowest batting average (.204) among players with at least five innings pitched.

Not bad for a guy who came into the season thinking he was going to be coming out of the bullpen.

So when he’s asked about how many innings he’s pitched, all he can do is laugh about it.

“I wouldn’t have believed you one bit,” he said, smiling.