The Gamecocks have missed the postseason for the fourth time in seven years. That comes off the heels of making 15 straight appearances with six College World Series appearances and two national titles.

If you recall back in February we told you the ceiling for this team was traveling for a regional as a #3 seed. We knew this was not going to be a vintage South Carolina baseball team, but we expected a little more than 27-28. To be fair, we didn't know Julian Bosnic would be out for the entire season or that James Hicks' season would end in the third inning of his second start. Jack Mahoney had a 1.62 ERA in 2021 out of the bullpen and he was sidelined for the entire 2022 season. Without those three injuries, I'm confident that this Gamecock team would have won 5-6 more games and found themselves traveling to Greenville, Blacksburg, or College Park next week. The question of who is to blame for the rash of pitching injuries is a fair one, but I'm not aware of any Carolina baseball beat writers that have medical degrees or access to the individual's medical records, therefore the answer can only be left to speculation.

The failures of this season do not rest on the shoulders of the Junior and Senior position players. Andrew Eyster, Josiah Sightler, Brandt Belk, and Braylen Wimmer all had solid years and refused to let this team quit when they could have folded tent several times this year. (See Mississippi State- that team won the National Championship last season and their team checked out in mid-April and failed to qualify for the SEC Tournament). Eyster hit .274 with 7 home runs in conference play and hit .318 for the season. Sightler, while playing on 1 leg most of the season, hit .340 in SEC play with 11 home runs. Belk hit .350 in league play and made only 3 errors in all games while being asked to play a number of different positions. Wimmer hit .265 in league play with 7 home runs and started all 55 games for Carolina this season. These four all had solid seasons and played well enough for Carolina to make the postseason. Colin Burgess struggled at the plate but he started 49 of 55 games and committed only 1 error and allowed 5 passed balls catching for a pitching staff that threw 70 wild pitches.

The remainder of the team struggled at the plate. Pitching injuries can not be blamed for Carolina finishing last in the SEC in average, slugging, on-base percentage, runs, hits, RBIs, doubles, and total bases. The Gamecocks did do a far better job putting the ball in play this season as they had the 2nd fewest strikeouts in the league and actually showed improvement over last season's SEC offensive output. Last season Carolina hit .228 with 38 home runs, 101 walks, and 308 strikeouts. In 2022 those numbers improved to .245, 39 home runs, 102 walks, and 263 strikeouts. Nothing to hang your hat on, but it lends credence to the thought that the Gamecocks should have at least matched last season's record without the pitching injuries.

We told you coming into the season that this was going to be the team's Achilles Heel and it was. Carolina simply didn't have the depth to overcome the injuries. By season's end, Mark Kingston had 3 pitchers he could rely on. Noah Hall was the MVP of the pitching staff. Hall threw more SEC innings than any pitcher in the conference. Will Sanders led the SEC in total innings with 89.1. Hall and Sanders stabilized 2/3rds of the weekend rotation and ate up innings. Their overall numbers would have been better as they were routinely left in games with their tanks nearing E due to the lack of options out of the pen. Cade Austin was Carolina's best pitcher out of the bullpen, he threw 31.2 innings and finished with an ERA of 2.84 in SEC play. Matthew Becker had moments of greatness but was too inconsistent for comfort. Both guys should be major factors next season.

It was a rollercoaster year that did yield a few bright moments. The big 9th inning comeback on opening weekend against UNCG, the home series win over the then #1 Texas Longhorns, the home series win over then #4 Vanderbilt Commodores, exacting some revenge in a 15-2 trouncing of then #22 UNC in Charlotte, a series win over then #25 Ole Miss, and sweeping an Alabama team that is likely headed to the NCAA Tournament.

What crushed this team and fired up the fanbase was the midweek losses. The Gamecocks went 2-6 against teams from the Palmetto State including a sweep at the hands of a very average Clemson team. They also lost home games to PC and Upstate and dropped a road contest to The Citadel. Carolina lost their shot at making the NCAA Tournament due to those losses and blowing late leads in series losses against Georgia, Missouri, and Texas A&M.

We will have more in the coming days on the future of Mark Kingston. We are trying to work the phones and check with sources on his status with the program going forward. As of right now, I'd put it at more probable than not that Kingston is South Carolina's Head Coach in 2023.

Belk and Eyster have exhausted their eligibility. Wimmer and Sightler could opt to return for an additional year but as of this writing, we would expect both to move on. Those four guys had more RBIs and home runs than the rest of the team combined. South Carolina's current recruiting class is ranked 20th by PerfectGame. In order to improve offensively, Carolina is going to need to have vast improvement from Michael Braswell, (we expect this to happen), Talmadge LeCroy, Cole Messina, and Thad Ector. In addition, Carolina's coaching staff will likely try to mine a few players from the transfer portal this offseason.

From a pitching standpoint, Sanders is back and will return to the Friday night role. Hicks, Hall, and Bosnic all have decisions to make. If any of those guys return, they will likely begin the season in the starting rotation. Carolina will return Aiden Hunter and Matthew Becker. They will need more consistency out of those two to go along with Austin.

No matter who the head coach is in 2023, I would expect next's team to be improved and make the postseason.