Position changes could be coming in Gamecock infield

Matt Williams was once on a 24-game on base streak. Now he’s on a different kind of streak.

The junior first baseman, who had double-digit RBIs through the Gamecocks’ first 24 games, hasn’t driven in a run in his last eight games. In those games, spanning 76 innings, Williams is just one for his last 29 (.034) at-bats.

The Gamecocks have gone 3-5 in those games, dropping back-to-back SEC series: one at Auburn and the other against Vanderbilt.

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With Williams and a few other players scuffling roughly halfway through SEC play, head coach could be leaning toward starting some fresh faces in the infield.

“We got to get some production somewhere,” Holbrook said after the Gamecocks’ 20-5 loss to North Carolina Tuesday night. “I like some of the at-bats we’re having, but obviously Matt will be the first to tell you he needs to play better. This isn’t little league. You have to play better."

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Williams has started 28 games at first base this season and has manned that infield spot the last 24 games for the Gamecocks.

Freshman Riley Hogan has started six games this season, three at first base, and is hitting .238 (5-for-21) with a double and two RBI.

Madison Stokes is another player who’s scuffled lately. The shortstop has gone 6-for-25 (.240) in his last seven starts with eight strikeouts. Since beating The Citadel on March 28, the bottom third of the Gamecocks’ order has gone 30-for-89 (.337) with 15 strikeouts.

He played last Wednesday against Furman, going 1-for-3 with a run. He also walked in a pinch-hit appearance against North Carolina and would later come around to score.

He has five starts this season, most at second base, and has one walk-off hit against Alabama. Row could see some time in the dirt this weekend with Stokes struggling at the plate.

“If you don’t play well and you’re not producing…you have to be consistent,” Holbrook said. “They’re smart enough to know if they don’t perform we’ll put another guy in there.”

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The Gamecocks (21-11, 7-5 SEC) are coming off their worst loss of the season, staring down a red-hot Mississippi State team that comes to Columbia this weekend.

With lineup changes potentially coming, Holbrook hopes any shift he potentially makes will get the Gamecocks gelling with six conference series left before the postseason.

“This league we’re in will chew up and spit out the weak. If we’re weak, we’ll get chewed up and spit out. It’s our choice,” Holbrook said. “Either strap it on and let’s go, battle and compete against the best teams in the country or tuck our head between our tails and cry for ourselves and we have another night or two like this.”