Brandon Stone will start Friday for South Carolina. Mainieri explains rotation change

When Matthew Becker trotted out of the bullpen in the sixth inning on Wednesday, one thing became clear. There would be a new Friday night starting pitcher in South Carolina’s weekend rotation going into SEC play.

Becker, who began the season as the team’s Saturday starter, moved up to the Friday spot for the past two weekend series. With that came some struggles, and it’s led head coach Paul Mainieri to make a change.

With South Carolina opening the 30-game conference schedule against Oklahoma this weekend, Mainieri announced that Brandon Stone will start on Friday. The other two slots will remain unchanged, with Jake McCoy going on Saturday and Dylan Eskew on Sunday.

Stone, who has only pitched out of relief this year, came in after both of Becker’s short Friday outings and provided strong performances in each game. With the right-hander owning a sub-2.00 ERA over 18.2 innings, Mainieri felt this was the right decision.

“He’s been really outstanding. Throws a lot of strikes. He’s got a good repertoire of pitches. He’s got a lot of self-confidence,” Mainieri said. “He just looks like a guy that could handle the Friday night situation and everything that comes with it.”

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Stone, one of the top JUCO pitchers in the country in 2024, has given South Carolina good length in a long-relief role. He’s gone at least two innings in all five of his appearances so far this season. In his two Friday stints as the first reliever to come in, he threw 10.1 innings and gave up a combined three runs against Clemson and Morehead State.

He’s also been able to command the strike zone, with 23 strikeouts and three walks. Of the 145 pitches he’s thrown, 100 have been for strikes. That’s a nearly 70 percent strike thrown rate.

“He’s a big, physical guy. … And I think having a Friday guy with that kind of presence reminds me of almost a Will Sanders kind of presence on the mound,” Ethan Petry said. “He’s got a really good sinker, and he’s starting to throw the four-seam more, and his breaking ball is very elite.”

Stone will be the third different pitcher to start a series opener for the Gamecocks this year. Mainieri said all potential options were discussed as to what the order would look like. Ultimately, he liked having Stone go on Friday and keeping the other starters on their usual days.

“When you think about it, if you win on Friday night, now Saturday’s game can win the series for you. If you lose on Friday night, the Saturday game can get you back to even,” he said. “For me, there’s almost no difference between Friday or Saturday in terms of the importance of the games.

“I mean, listen, all 30 games are important. Sunday is as important as Friday and Saturday. … But we all know that on Friday night, it’s going to be a tremendous challenge. In this league or the Super Regional, you’re going to face a great pitcher — that’s just the way it is. And you may win, you may not win, but if you don’t, you better have a really great one going on Saturday.”

With Stone starting Friday, it sets up a great pitching matchup going against Oklahoma right-hander Kyson Witherspoon. Witherspoon has been phenomenal on the mound for the Sooners, pitching to a 1.17 ERA with 40 strikeouts and five walks.

“This is the SEC, and this is what you get. This is what you sign up for,” Mainieri said. “But I feel like Brandon is going to be right in there and compete hard and believe in himself. I think our defense has been stellar, and if we can play great defense behind him, I don’t see any reason why he can’t hold his own.”

South Carolina and No. 12 Oklahoma will begin their three-game series on Friday night at Founders Park. First pitch is at 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.

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