South Carolina Baseball: Braswell announces new college home with SEC rival

Earlier this week, just two days after the South Carolina baseball team’s season ended against the Florida Gators in a super regional, infielder Michael Braswell announced his transfer from the South Carolina baseball program.

In his two years as a Gamecock, Braswell hit for a .271 batting average, a .368 on-base percentage, and 24 extra-base hits. In his career, Braswell started games at shortstop, second base, and third base and was very good defensively, especially at shortstop. He also spent part of his freshman year as a relief pitcher but focused on his work as an infielder in 2023.

With no guarantee of a starting spot at shortstop in 2024, Braswell elected to leave Mark Kingston’s Gamecock program.

On Thursday, less than a week after his initial transfer announcement, Braswell revealed via his personal Twitter account that he had found a new home to spend the rest of his college career.

Braswell will transfer to Baton Rogue to play for the LSU Tigers. The Gamecocks’ SEC rival is currently competing in Omaha at the College World Series.

LSU has a couple of infielders on its current roster that could return in 2024 but lacks many returners. Junior Jordan Thompson could be headed off to the professional ranks, and two-way freshman Gavin Guidry could focus on pitching. Braswell will be stepping into a great program that will have opportunities to play immediately if he can earn them.

For the Gamecocks, Will Tippett is the only player on the current roster who seems like a real candidate at shortstop as starter Braylen Wimmer is likely to be drafted pretty highly in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Tippett could end up playing just about anywhere on the diamond next season, so the incoming freshman class and the transfer portal likely will be a big factor in next season’s starting lineup.