C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
--Will Sanders and Julian Bosnic making their mound debuts for the first time in a scrimmage since the season ended headlined the scrimmage. Both looked incredibly sharp in their first inning and struggled some in the second.
Bosnic went off to a lightning-fast start, striking out two and getting a pop up in the first inning against two righties and a lefty while Sanders got a flyout, groundout and strikeout in the first. Bosnic gave up a run in the second inning on a wild pitch after a single, walk then double. Sanders didn’t give up a run but did walk the bases loaded.
Bosnic operated around 88 to 89 miles per hour on his fastball and moved it around well enough with a great curveball in the low-70s while Sanders was up to 92 to 94 miles per hour getting up to 95 with a slider he’s been working on some with Justin Parker.
Both guys will continue to improve as they get more innings and as the weather warms up.
--From an offensive standpoint there weren’t many fireworks but a few guys did come up with extra base hits. Michael Braswell had an impressive opposite field double late in his at-bat off Bosnic and showcased some speed around the bases. Connor Cino squared up a pull-side single as well off CJ Weins that drove in two runs.
--The approach from an offensive standpoint seemed better with guys drawing 10 walks in four innings of work. There were pitches in there that guys last year might have swung a but didn’t this year. There were a few walks taken on full counts too and hitters seem a little more patient, albeit a smaller sample size in the spring.
--The drawback to 10 walks (and a hit batter) is the pitching staff struggling with command. Obviously some of that is due to the cold but South Carolina’s arms need to be better throwing competitive pitches and filling the zone, which is what last year’s staff was so good at. They did strike out eight over the course of the day.
--One guy who had a solid first scrimmage was Matt Hogan, who almost beat out a groundout against Sanders then flew out to left field before hitting a sacrifice fly in the final inning.
The Gamecocks also had a few balls squared up that were ultimately caught for outs, most notably a pull-side fly out from Brandt Belk that would have dropped for a double and Vytas Valincius just missed an opposite-field grand slam.
--Weins threw one inning, hitting a batter, walking two and giving up the two-run single but did also get a fly out, strikeout and a groundout as well operating in the low-90s on his fastball.
Another likely bullpen arm in Noah Hall threw in a scrimmage for the first time since getting shut down in the fall. He’d throw two innings, giving up a hit and two walks in his first inning then getting two quick outs before walking another pair in his second before hitting his pitch count. His fastball was operating in the upper-80s, hitting 89.
--South Carolina will scrimmage Sunday at 2 p.m. and again it is free and open to the public.
Bosnic went off to a lightning-fast start, striking out two and getting a pop up in the first inning against two righties and a lefty while Sanders got a flyout, groundout and strikeout in the first. Bosnic gave up a run in the second inning on a wild pitch after a single, walk then double. Sanders didn’t give up a run but did walk the bases loaded.
Bosnic operated around 88 to 89 miles per hour on his fastball and moved it around well enough with a great curveball in the low-70s while Sanders was up to 92 to 94 miles per hour getting up to 95 with a slider he’s been working on some with Justin Parker.
Both guys will continue to improve as they get more innings and as the weather warms up.
--From an offensive standpoint there weren’t many fireworks but a few guys did come up with extra base hits. Michael Braswell had an impressive opposite field double late in his at-bat off Bosnic and showcased some speed around the bases. Connor Cino squared up a pull-side single as well off CJ Weins that drove in two runs.
--The approach from an offensive standpoint seemed better with guys drawing 10 walks in four innings of work. There were pitches in there that guys last year might have swung a but didn’t this year. There were a few walks taken on full counts too and hitters seem a little more patient, albeit a smaller sample size in the spring.
--The drawback to 10 walks (and a hit batter) is the pitching staff struggling with command. Obviously some of that is due to the cold but South Carolina’s arms need to be better throwing competitive pitches and filling the zone, which is what last year’s staff was so good at. They did strike out eight over the course of the day.
--One guy who had a solid first scrimmage was Matt Hogan, who almost beat out a groundout against Sanders then flew out to left field before hitting a sacrifice fly in the final inning.
The Gamecocks also had a few balls squared up that were ultimately caught for outs, most notably a pull-side fly out from Brandt Belk that would have dropped for a double and Vytas Valincius just missed an opposite-field grand slam.
--Weins threw one inning, hitting a batter, walking two and giving up the two-run single but did also get a fly out, strikeout and a groundout as well operating in the low-90s on his fastball.
Another likely bullpen arm in Noah Hall threw in a scrimmage for the first time since getting shut down in the fall. He’d throw two innings, giving up a hit and two walks in his first inning then getting two quick outs before walking another pair in his second before hitting his pitch count. His fastball was operating in the upper-80s, hitting 89.
--South Carolina will scrimmage Sunday at 2 p.m. and again it is free and open to the public.
