Mark Kingston provides injury update on Will Sanders, others

South Carolina ace Will Sanders missed a series against Arkansas this past weekend due to a lower body injury, and he’ll now miss another. Gamecocks coach Mark Kingston revealed Wednesday that he does not plan to play Sanders this weekend as the team closes the season at home against Tennessee.

However, Kingston seemed to suggest there is a chance the pitcher may return in time for the SEC Tournament in Hoover, which begins in a little less than a week.

“Will will not pitch this weekend, but we’re hopeful that as we get further in this in a week or two that he’ll be getting in a position where he can help us,” the coach said. “But he will not pitch this weekend. Rotation, not ready to officially name it right now, but we will soon.”

Sanders has started 11 games for South Carolina this season and leads the team with 66 strikeouts. He has an ERA of 5.75, the highest of his career.

The Gamecocks have also been without reliver Eli Jerzembeck, who has recorded 36 strikeouts in 31.2 innings with an ERA of 2.84. Kingston had unfortunate news on his status going forward.

“Jerzembeck will not pitch again for us this year,” he said.

Without Sanders and Jerzembeck, it will be interesting to see who South Carolina rolls out for the series against the Volunteers. Last week against the Razorbacks, Eli Jones, Jack Mahoney and Matthew Becker all received starts as the Gamecocks dropped the series 2-1.

It’s not just the pitching staff that is dealing with injuries, however. Will McGillis missed more than a month earlier this season with a broken bone in his forearm. He returned for the final game of the series against Arkansas and also played in a Tuesday matchup against Charlotte.

Kingston said there was some fear that McGillis “rebroke it” after Tuesday, but X-Rays revealed good news. Even so, the coach seemed to suggest he could rest again this weekend.

“Will McGillis just got an X-Ray and we were a little fearful he had rebroke it,” Kingston said. “That is not the case. He still potentially could help us down the road. Probably will need some time again to rest and let it settle down. It is not a season-ending injury.”

South Carolina (37-15, 15-11 SEC) finds itself at fifth place in the conference standings heading into this weekend. The Gamecocks have a couple of a few teams right behind them in Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee, making this weekend an important one for SEC Tournament seeding.

More important, however, is that Will Sanders and Will McGillis get the rest they need to recover from their injuries and be ready for the postseason. The Gamecocks have lost seven of their past eight games, but will hope to turn it around when the first game of the series starts at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.