South Carolina Baseball: Gamecock lefty hits the transfer portal

South Carolina baseball fired head coach Mark Kingston on Monday, but even with the transition, the Gamecocks have not seen too many roster defections.

Pitchers Jackson Phipps, Jevarra Martin, and Austin Williamson revealed their intentions to hit the transfer portal before the NCAA Tournament began the week prior, and infielder Tristan Salinas announced his plans to leave the program shortly after Kingston was dismissed.

Another Gamecock, a former starter, is joining those four in the transfer portal.

According to a report from GamecockCentral's Jack Veltri, earlier this week, left-handed designated hitter/first baseman/third baseman/outfielder Carson Hornung also entered the transfer portal.

Hornung's portal entry doesn't come as a surprise after he was mismanaged this season. As a primary starter in 2023 (typically at designated hitter), Hornung led the team in on-base percentage despite playing most of the year with a fractured foot.

Hornung's smooth lefty swing seemed primed to propel him to a nice season if he was healthy, and he was even tabbed as a national breakout candidate (compared to Ethan Petry and Cole Messina) by D1Baseball. Instead, the junior barely saw the field this spring, even with the Gamecock offense struggling at times.

Hornung will look for a new opportunity to play and will have one more season of eligibility.

For now, it is unclear how the transfer portal might continue to affect the 2025 version of the South Carolina baseball team. Until the Gamecocks hire a new coach (and the assistant coaches that make up the new coach's staff), it will be more difficult for players to make a decision on what they'd like to do next season.

Even with the uncertainty around the next coach, Carolina has picked up a couple of commitments this week as transfer portal pitcher Caleb Jones (Winthrop Eagles) and in-state, class of 2025 pitcher Luke Roupe (North Myrtle Beach High School) announced pledges to the South Carolina baseball program.