South Carolina baseball: Gamecocks land key transfer, new pitching coach

South Carolina baseball picked up some key additions this week.

South Carolina baseball is fresh off of a successful season, winning 34 games in a very competitive SEC, hosting a regional, and coming a couple of hits short of advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. With that success, unfortunately, comes attrition.

South Carolina’s pitching coach, Skylar Meade, was poached last week by Troy, who hired the assistant away to take over in his first head coaching role. Meade made a huge impact on the Gamecocks’ pitching staff this past season, having the unit ranked among the SEC’s best in both ERA and strikeouts. He saw all three members of his starting rotation drafted in this month’s MLB Draft.

Head coach Mark Kingston moved quickly to fill the opening, as it was reported by 24/7 Sports that Justin Parker is set to take over in Columbia as the pitching coach next season. Parker was at Indiana last year, leading the Hoosiers to a 26-win season.

Indiana’s staff ranked third in the nation in ERA last season, second in hits allowed per game, and had three pitchers named to all-conference teams. Prior to joining the Hoosiers’ program, he coached at UCF.

Gamecocks add ACC transfer

South Carolina also added a productive transfer from the portal this week in Virginia Tech infielder Kevin Madden. Madden his .313 with the Hokies last year, smacking four homers and knocking in 37 RBIs.

The Gamecocks were looking to fill the voids left by transfers Brennan Milone and Jeff Heinrich, and Madden seems to be a solid pickup. He should have a chance to immediately join the lineup and make a major impact at the top of the South Carolina order. The Gamecocks are looking to improve upon a tough season at the plate, where the team hit an SEC-low .228 against conference foes.