Baseball Announces Opening Weekend Rotation
Will Sanders, James Hicks and Josiah Sightler will toe the rubber for the Gamecocks this weekend.
COLUMBIA – Head Coach Mark Kingston announced his opening weekend rotation this afternoon (Wednesday, Feb. 16) for the three-game series against UNC Greensboro. The Gamecocks will go with sophomore Will Sanders, junior James Hicks and senior Josiah Sightler for the first three contests.
Sanders get the ball on Opening Day after going 6-3 with a 3.54 ERA in 22 contests with 10 starts his freshman season with the Gamecocks. Sanders struck out 54 batters in 53.1 innings pitched in 2021 and was named SEC Freshman of the Week last April 5 after pitching eight-plus innings in a win over Georgia. He was named to the Preseason All-SEC second team and named a Preseason All-SEC selection by Perfect Game.
Hicks comes to Columbia after two seasons at Crowder College in Neosho, Mo., and was 11-3 with 89 strikeouts and eight complete games for the Roughriders last season. He helped Crowder College to 55 wins last season and holds the school’s record for complete games and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Sightler made five appearances on the mound last year, going 1-0 with a 4.70 ERA in 7.2 innings pitched. He had four strikeouts in three innings pitched in a win at Winthrop on March 2. Sightler is a two-way player who had 11 doubles, seven home runs and 31 RBI at the plate in 2021.
