South Carolina baseball coach Mark Kingston and his staff have been out recruiting this offseason. New coaches Matt Williams (pitching coach) and Joey Holcomb (assistant recruiting coordinator/assistant hitting coach) have acclimated well to Columbia as the Gamecocks have landed a number of high school, junior college, and transfer portal recruits in recent months.
On Tuesday, Carolina picked up a commitment from big-time junior college pitching prospect Jackson Soucie.
Then, late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning, South Carolina baseball added another junior college arm to its commitment list.
Kemper Nix, a Spartanburg Methodist College pitcher who played for Spartanburg High School prior to his stint in junior college, pledged himself to the Gamecocks and pitching coach Matt Williams. Like Soucie, Nix is a big left-hander. Also like Soucie, Nix will have four seasons to pitch three years in garnet and black.
As a pitcher, Nix fills a big need for a Gamecock team that returned just one left-handed pitching contributor from last year’s team in Chapin native Matthew Becker. Garrett Gainey, a transfer from Liberty, is the only other upperclassman lefty on the South Carolina baseball roster.
With several pitchers injured for the season (Eli Jerzembeck and Reese Marcum are recovering from Tommy John surgery) and a few more who are still hoping to get back from older injuries (Roman Kimball, Chris Veach, Ricky Williams, Michael Polk, and Jake McCoy won’t throw this fall), adding another pitcher who can contribute to the roster makes sense for the Gamecocks.
As an Upstate of South Carolina native, Nix continues a trend by South Carolina baseball of adding players from “Clemson territory.” In August, the Gamecocks picked up two commitments from TL Hanna High School in Will Craddock and Seth Manning, and they have a few more Upstate area players committed in future classes, as well.