South Carolina’s pitching staff will look a little different this season top to bottom, but it’s not all different.

The Gamecocks brought in a new pitching coach in Justin Parker and lost three weekend starters and a handful of key bullpen pieces but have a really solid foundation to build through.

That foundation is returners and likely weekend starters Julian Bosnic and Will Sanders, who are expected to anchor South Carolina’s pitching staff in 2022.

“It’s really nice. The main thing is just how open to things they’ve been. They’ve both incredibly smart, they’re invested, they’re detailed. I would have loved to work with them this fall more so in getting on the mound for 10 or 15 innings,” Parker told GamecockCentral. “I would have loved to do that, but I feel like we were very productive without having those guys pitch in the fall.”

Neither saw time on a mound during a scrimmage but both got chances to work with Parker some in practice on a mound during the fall with Bosnic earlier and Sanders later.

Bosnic was one of the biggest returners for South Carolina, forgoing signing with the Giants this offseason to return for his second full year on the mound.

The lefty, who will debut high on a lot of potential draft lists this spring, finished last year with a 2.84 ERA and a .133 batting average against.

He was way more effective out of the bullpen, posting a 1.53 ERA and 0.736 WHIP in 35.1 innings with a 51-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio in relief.

“We went through the on-ramp, got on the mound on the front end and were able to work on some things I think is going to allow him to transition that short burst prowess into a more sustainable type of starter,” Parker said. “I think he can do those things. I certainly think he has the stuff, the repertoire and has starter traits in his personality in how he manages games, how smart he is, how competitive he is.”

Sanders, a freshman All-American, also bounced around from starter to reliever in his freshman year at South Carolina, ending with a 3.54 ERA in 22 appearances with 10 starts.

He was solid as a starter, ending with a 4.05 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 40 innings with 45 strikeouts to seven walks. After pitching for Team USA over the summer, he didn’t throw much in the fall but Parker likes the progress he saw late.

“Sanders threw off the mound towards the end and was really, really good,” Parker said. “We were able to work on some things that showed up at the end, tied a bow on it and shut it down. We felt like we got a lot of good work in.”

Now both have the advantageous position of knowing they’ll be in the rotation all winter and preparing with the understanding they’ll be relied on to pitch upwards of 100 or more innings in 2022 at South Carolina.

Bosnic certainly knew that going into 2021 but Sanders didn’t with Thomas Farr, Brett Kerry and Brannon Jordan all on the roster.

“This goes for everybody but trying to just improve the movement patters to allow their success to be more sustainable and be more lower half and ground dependent and less arm-dependent. That was the focal point with those two guys preparing for their first college season truly as frontline starters,” Parker said. “That will be the challenge for these two in the next phase just mentally and physically preparing to do that.”

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