South Carolina Baseball: Ranking the top-15 pitchers in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Baseball’s No. 14 Greatest Pitcher of All-Time:
Tyler Webb
The best set-up man in Carolina history, Tyler Webb (2010-2013) eventually became an elite closer after Matt Price graduated. Webb flirted with being a starter in both his freshman and sophomore campaigns, but he settled into a relief role both years, partnering with John Taylor to hand the ball off to closer Matt Price, one-third of the best three-man bullpen group ever at USC.
As a true freshman, Webb picked up the win in the 12-inning College World Series victory over Oklahoma and got a big out to end an inning against UCLA in the Championship Series. He also went over 2 innings of scoreless ball against Florida in 2011 in the Championship Series.
As a junior, the left-handed Webb was absolutely dominant as he posted a 1.56 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. At the beginning of the season when Price was starting games, Webb was the closer and gave up zero earned runs in the role. When Price stepped back into the end-of-game situations, Webb resumed set-up duties and only allowed 8 runs in 50 innings the rest of the way.
When he was given the closer job as a senior, Webb was even better. His ERA dipped to 1.47, and he logged a ridiculous 12.6 K/9 ratio en route to 17 saves and long-overdue All-SEC and All-American nods. He finished his career with the most pitching appearances in South Carolina baseball history. Webb spent five years in Major League Baseball.