Report: South Carolina hiring Matt Williams from Liberty as pitching coach

South Carolina pitching coach Justin Parker is leaving for Mississippi State. It didn’t take the Gamecocks long to find his replacement. According to a report from TheBigSpur.com, South Carolina is hiring Matt Williams from Liberty as its new pitching coach.

Williams and Gamecocks head coach Mark Kingston have a verbal agreement in place, according to the report.

Williams just completed his fourth season at Liberty, after previously spending time in the San Diego Padres organization. He also had a successful stint as the pitching coach at UNCW earlier in his career.

Liberty struggled on the mound this season, finishing with a 5.73 ERA. However, in 2022 Flames pitchers had a 4.29 ERA, while averaging 10.4 strikeouts per 9 innings. Liberty reached the NCAA Tournament three straight years from 2020-2022, with Williams’ pitching staff being a big reason why.

Williams led a pitching staff that finished with 620 strikeouts in 2022, which set a school record. The Flames also ranked No. 15 nationally in strikeouts per 9 innings. Liberty was also No. 19 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio and No. 32 nationally in ERA in 2022.

The 2021 season was even better for Matt Williams and the Liberty pitching staff. The Flames finished the year fifth in the country in runs allowed per game (3.6), 12th in ERA (3.57), ninth in WHIP (1.22), 15th in shutouts (6) and 13th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.60). Liberty also topped the ASUN Conference in innings pitched (501.0), strikeouts (487) and saves (15) in 2021.

Mark Kingston believes South Carolina was one of the eight best teams in the country

Matt Williams is joining a South Carolina program that didn’t make it to Omaha this past season, but that Gamecocks head coach Mark Kingston still believes was one of the eight best in the country.

“We showed that we have the ability still to be one of the best programs in the country, and until we had some adversity we were. Sometimes the best teams don’t get to Omaha. I think we’re one of the best eight teams in the country,” Kingston said following South Carolina’s final game of the season.

Kingston very well may be right. South Carolina was fantastic in the Columbia Regional, outscoring its opponents 41-11 in a clean three-game sweep. Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, that hot streak didn’t roll over into Super Regionals.

The team went 0-2 against Florida to end their season. In the elimination game, South Carolina failed to score, falling 4-0 to the Gators. Kingston believes the Gamecocks’ unfortunate end was the outcome of uncontrollable circumstances.

“Because of some things that happened, we had to come on the road for a super regional against a team that has a good chance to win the national championship,” Kingston said. “It doesn’t mean that we’re not one of the elite teams in the country. It just means that we faced them this weekend instead of maybe in Omaha, which could’ve happened had we been able to stay the course like it looked like we were for a long time.”