Baseball Opens Fall Practice Thursday
The Gamecocks return to the field as a team for the first time since March.
COLUMBIA – The University of South Carolina baseball team will open team practice Thursday (Sept. 24) at Founders Park, its first team practice since March.
“We’re excited to start team practice tomorrow,” head baseball coach Mark Kingston said. “I’m anxious to see our returning players start to mix with the new players and start to formulate what we have here. I’m excited to get back on the field with these guys. It’s been a long, long time. The players and coaches are all just very anxious to get out there again.”
All scrimmages in the fall will be closed to the public due to COVID-19 regulations. The Gamecocks will practice as a team until the end of October.
The Gamecocks are coming off a 12-4 season in a shortened 2020 campaign. Carolina returns 24 players from last year’s team, including Wes Clarke, who led the SEC with eight home runs and had a team-best 22 RBI, Brady Allen, who led the squad with a .327 batting average and Andrew Eyster, who returns for his third season in the Garnet and Black after hitting .305 in 2020.
On the mound, the duo of Brannon Jordan and Thomas Farr combined for 46 strikeouts in 36.2 innings pitched, while Brett Kerry was 2-0 with a save and 18 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched. Carolina’s pitching staff had 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings last season.
The Gamecocks’ recruiting class comes in ranked in the top-10 by three separate organizations (No. 4 by Perfect Game, No. 6 by Baseball America and No. 8 by Collegiate Baseball).
