South Carolina Baseball: Gamecock pitcher hitting the transfer portal

South Carolina baseball will play on Tuesday in the SEC Tournament, and they need a win to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. A loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, though, will make things uncomfortably interesting when the NCAA Tournament field is announced next Monday.

Fans are not happy with the current trajectory of the program, and based on a recent in-state decommitment, recruits aren't excited about the lack of success on the field or the potential coaching instability that comes with it.

On Monday, another Gamecock elected to cut ties with the program, but this time it was a player already on the team. Left-handed fourth-year pitcher Jackson Phipps revealed on social media that he plans to enter the transfer portal on Monday, June 3rd.

Phipps has not been used much during his South Carolina baseball career, even when the Gamecocks had a dire need for help from left-handed pitching. He has pitched less than 20 total relief innings in his four years on campus and has not seen game action at all in 2024.

Despite being in his fourth season with the program, a traditional redshirt and a medical redshirt would allow the Georgia native to play two more years of college baseball if he can find a new home through the portal. Phipps missed the 2022 season with an injury, and without any playing time in the 2024 season, receiving the necessary NCAA clearance for two more years should not be a problem.

In the modern world of college sports, Phipps' defection will not be the final transfer portal decision from current South Carolina Gamecocks, especially if athletic director Ray Tanner elects to move on from head coach Mark Kingston after the season. Fans should expect some roster attrition this summer and potentially more after fall practice ends.