The South Carolina baseball team swung into action for the 2025 season on Sept. 30, with the first of many preseason scrimmages.
That same day, head baseball coach Paul Mainieri previewed the team's new and returning faces to the program and his plans for the team heading into his first season back as a coach.
The team will participate in 27 total workouts this fall, Mainieri said, two of which will be matchups against other teams. The goal is for pitchers to focus not only on throwing strikes, but also mixing their pitches, he said. Mainieri said he wants the hitters to focus on showcasing a better balance of aggressiveness and discipline at the plate.
"I'm not going to implement strategy in these first couple of weeks," Mainieri said. "I really want the players to just go out and play the game."
South Carolina's fall baseball roster is set to begin with 48 players, but will need to be trimmed down to 40 by opening day on Feb. 14.
While he acknowledges the team has a lot of work to do until then, Mainieri said he wants to provide opportunities for players to enjoy themselves too.
“I’m a big believer in the student athletes having the experience of being a student. What is Saturday afternoons in the fall for? Football, right?" Mainieri said. "I want them to go have fun and be with their friends and just enjoy.""
Looking ahead at positions to fill
The Gamecocks also saw changes in their coaching staff during the offseason. In addition to keeping associate head coach and hitting coach Monte Lee, the program added Terry Rooney as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator and John Hendry as assistant coach.
The team lost multiple high-impact players after the 2024 season, including key contributors catcher Cole Messina and pitchers Eli Jones and Garrett Gainey after all three were selected in the 2024 MLB Draft. Because of this, the team will be looking for new and returning players to fill the new vacant places in the lineup.
Senior catcher/infielder Talmadge LeCroy, who played predominantly at third base during the 2024 campaign, began making the transition back to catcher over the summer while playing in the Cape Cod League. Mainieri said he was impressed with what he saw when he traveled to watch LeCroy play for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.
“I thought Talmadge LeCroy was the best player on the field that night,” Mainieri said.
Sophomore catcher Ryan Bakes is the only returning catcher from the 2024 season. Bakes saw limited at-bats during his freshman season playing in 22 games and making six starts. He had two doubles and five RBI with a .375 on-base percentage.
Mainieri said he and his staff are also looking for someone to fill the shortstop position. He said the two players in competition for the spot are Will Tippett and Henry Kaczmar.
Tippett is returning to the Gamecock baseball program after making 48 appearances and 42 starts during the 2024 season. Tippett had a .361 slugging percentage and was 13-for-14 on stolen base attempts, which tied him for 14th in the SEC in last year.
Kaczmar, a transfer from Ohio State, played and started in 55 games for the Buckeyes last season, when he batted a .320, earned 72 hits and scored 53 runs. He was also named a Top 50 shortstop by D1 Baseball.
"Will Tippett might be the greatest teammate I have ever seen. He just seems to be the most unselfish person that you can imagine out there," Mainieri said. "He's competing hard with a young man by the name of Henry Kaczmar and all he does is keep encouraging him at shortstop."
The return of a promising pitcher
Despite losing the notable names from last season, Mainieri said he is excited about the return of one player from injury to the roster — redshirt sophomore pitcher Eli Jerzembeck.
Jerzembeck pitched an 0-1 record and 2.84 across 31.2 innings during his freshman campaign in 2023. But he was forced to miss the entirety of last season due to an injury. Before joining the Gamecocks, Jerzembeck was a highly recruited player coming out of high school, as Perfect Game ranked him the No. 16 right-handed pitcher in the class of 2022.
Mainieri said Jerzembeck's rehab process has been a priority to his staff and that he believes he has "great potential." Jerzembeck is expected to pitch in both of the team's scrimmages at the end of the month, Mainieri said.
"We feel like he’s in great shape. His bullpens have been outstanding. He’s got electric stuff," Mainieri said. "When you watch him throw a bullpen you think Friday night starter. There's no question about that.”
New faces looking to make an impact
The Gamecocks could see a high number of incoming players looking to contribute this spring. Mainieri said his staff did a "tremendous job" attacking the transfer portal over the summer.
Freshman infielders Beau Hollins and KJ Scobey, two players named to Baseball America's Top 500 Freshman List by Baseball America , headline the team's freshman class.
Hollins, who previously played at River Bluff High School, was the No. 5 prospect in the state, according to Perfect Game and was selected to participate in the 2024 MLB Draft Combine. Scobey, who joined South Carolina from McKeel Academy for Technology in Florida, was Perfect Game's No. 63 shortstop prospect in this year's class.
Mainieri used the transfer portal to add former Texas A&M catcher Max Kaufer, a junior who is expected to contribute to South Carolina's depth behind the plate. Kaufer hit .194 with two home runs and 17 RBIs across 124 collegiate at bats.
"He played up in Cape Cod this summer and did fairly well," Mainieri said. "I went up to watch him play one game and you know he kind of fits the profile of what we needed to know, that we have a good defensive catcher on our staff."
Additional transfer portal acquisitions aim to boost the Gamecocks' arsenal of pitchers, too.
South Carolina added Aydin Palmer from Florence-Darlington Technical College, who Mainieri described as a “strike throwing machine,” and Jackson Soucie from the junior college ranks. Juniors Jarvis Evans Jr. from Georgia and Wyatt Evans from Tennessee, along with sophomore Ashton Crowther from Miami, bring experience playing at a Division I level to the Gamecock's roster.
What's next?
South Carolina will participate in scrimmages over the next four weeks, and two of them will be against other opponents. The Gamecocks will take on Air Force at Founders Park on Oct. 26 before traveling on the road to face the College of Charleston on Nov. 7.