Everything Paul Mainieri said after South Carolina's game two win over No. 12 Oklahoma

South Carolina coach Paul Mainieri spoke to the media following the Gamecocks’ 11-5 win over No. 12 Oklahoma.

Here is everything he said.

Be in the know about all things Gamecocks for just $1 for 7 days—lock in this special offer!

A couple lineup switches today, what do you feel like worked well about that particular combination?

“Well, (Dalton) Masore got a hugely clutch two-run single there. You know, that was a big hit in the game. Did that break the tie? Yeah. You know, Mashore is a really good player, and he’s been battling this hip thing, as I told you, and he hadn’t even been in a game in a while. But, I don’t know, I just had a feeling it was time to get him back in there. I hated to take Beau Hollins out, because he’s been playing so well. But, you know, putting Petry at first base was a way to get Mashore in there and now tomorrow, when we face the left-hander, we’ll kind of reevaluate it all again. But that was what I wanted to do with Mashore.

“Originally I had him hitting lower in the lineup, and then I ended up basically flip-flopping he and Carrion. I was going to hit Carrion two-hole, but, Carrion has just been doing such a great job and giving some balance to our lineup and he makes things happen. I just didn’t want to put the “Peter Principle” out there, you know what I mean? All of you know what the Peter Principle is. The Peter Principle is people do such good work, and they keep getting promoted until they reach a level of incompetence. Okay, so you leave people in an area where they’re comfortable, and they end up doing well. Not that Jordan Carrion couldn’t be an outstanding two-hole hitter, but when he’s batting in the spot that he is in the order, he’s been making so many good things happen. I just wanted to leave him there where he’s been comfortable.

“So I put Mashore up in the two hole. And if Jordan Carrion had been up, but in that situation, I certainly would have gambled or bet that he would have come through with a big hit, too. But, you know, Mashore did it. And then, you know, Scobey has just been so hot, and I thought, you know, putting him behind Petry, just covered Petry a little bit more and took a little pressure off of Kennedy for today as well.”

What kind of adjustments have y’all to make as a coaching staff to Oklahoma’s pitching, including Talamadge behind the plate?

“Yeah Talmadge just played great, you know, and he’s been playing, as everybody knows, with a fractured thumb. And I told him today, you know, late in the game, don’t even think about not playing tomorrow. You’re playing, whether you like it or not.

“But he’s a gamer, you know, he’s just a tough kid, and he wants to play, and he wants to win, and you know, he’s swinging the bat so much better. We do a little tweak with his stance that I think’s really helped him seeing the ball a lot better. And his swings, you know, have stayed through the ball. And I think, I don’t think you’ve heard the end of Talmadge as an offensive player this year, he’s going to do some great things before the season’s over.

“He’s doing a tremendous job behind the plate. But yeah, Oklahoma puts a lot of pressure on you. That just but you know what, John, every team in this league puts a lot of pressure on you. So what Jake talked about is the way it is every game, you know? Whether it’s a coach or a pitcher or a hitter, you know you’re facing the best, and that brings out the best in you. You either cave or it brings out the best in you. And I think it’s brought out the best in our kids these two days, even though we lost yesterday.”

What has been the key to unlocking Nathan Hall

“I just think it’s a self-confidence thing that he has. And quite frankly, you know, he needed somebody to believe in him that would put him in there and stick with him, you know. And I saw very early in the fall that this kid could be special. That’s what they look like. You know, he reminds me a lot of Jacoby Jones. Remember Jacoby Jones played for me at LSU? And, you know, he’s got the same kind of build. He’s the same kind of athlete. There’s not anything he can’t do, really. I’ve even taught him how to bunt, believe it or not, he didn’t know how to bunt when he got here. But, he’s not only a tremendous player, tremendous athlete, but he’s also a very tough competitor. He gets two strikes on him. He’s a tough guy to strike out. You know, he spreads out a little bit, starts thinking about going to the opposite field. He’s just been one of the great joys of coaching here at South Carolina.

“My only sad thing is, I’ll probably only have him for one year, but hey, you’re going to see this kid play in the Major Leagues. I think he’s going to be a really good player in the Major Leagues, quite frankly.”

Couple of strong innings in the fourth and fifth, how big were they towards momentum and confidence?

“Well, you know, again, we’ve believed in ourselves, you know, we’ve tried to make these kids believe they can accomplish anything that they put their mind to. And you know, we’re trying to earn people’s respect. You know, you got to go out there and earn it, and you earn it by playing well against good teams. And you know, I thought we played a good game last night. We just had a bad, terrible start, you know, to the game, and we fought back, and we got the tying run to the plate at one point, and then, unfortunately, they had a couple solo home runs. And, you know, separated themselves late in the game. We hit into a couple of double plays late in the game to squelch rallies. But our kids believe in themselves, and when they do that, if they have the talent to follow up with it, then good things are going to happen.

“There’s never been an ounce of negativity in the dugout. Everybody’s been upbeat, positive, believing in themselves. And I think it shows the way that our hitters are going up there and attacking the ball, and I don’t care who they run out there. You know, you look up there on the board and see 95, 98 (mph pitches). My goodness, when I played, you never saw anything like that. I don’t know how they do it, but our kids are getting the barrels of the bat out there, and they’re putting the good wood on it, you know, and they’re hitting the ball. And we had some really, really clutch hits today. That allows you to put a crooked number up on the board.”

From a fan’s standpoint, is this a statement win?

“Well, I hope our fans believe in us. You know that we have wonderful fans here and, you know, I think they they can feel the energy within the team and the belief in themselves and the players are great kids. I’ve told you that many, many times here, I’ve had the time of my life coaching these young men. They’re just the nicest kids in the world, well behaved and polite and just very coachable, you know, never problems with these kids. They’re just a wonderful group. And I think the fans recognize that they’re really, really good kids.

“We beat all the teams we were supposed to beat before the SEC except for the series with Clemson. But I’ve said it a million times, those scores were very misleading. They were all one-run games in the eighth, ninth innings. They were well-played games. And, you know, I didn’t think we knew how to win then. And I think we know how to win. And you know, that’s not taking anything away from Clemson. They beat us, and they deserve to win the games. But you know, we’re ready for the challenge in this league, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun. We only have 28 more of them.”

You have a lot of pitchers who will sometimes get into trouble. A lot of the time, they find ways out of it. Is that something in their composure? Is that something that you and Terry (Rooney) really work with them on?

“It’s something Terry talks about constantly with them, okay? I mean, you don’t want to walk lead-off hitters, and you don’t want to walk batters, but they are going to get hits, and the kids aren’t perfect, but not giving up, and to stay the course and keep battling right to the end is something that we emphasize with all of our players and certainly with the pitchers. But I did ask Pitzer, before the ninth inning if he felt good enough to finish the game, and he said ‘yes.’ And I said, ‘Will you please do me a favor and don’t walk anybody? I’m 67 years old. I don’t know how much more my heart can take, so please just throw the ball over the plate in the ninth.’ He got a little close to walking somebody, but he still threw it over the plate. And we got through the inning.”

You had Carrion bunt up a runner, was that something to get to Henry Kaczmar with two outs?

“Well, he was bunting for a hit. He just bunted it too hard, gotcha. But Kaczmar came through with a big hit. That was a nice tack-on run, yeah, but I wouldn’t typically sacrifice one with one out. I mean, you know, I was, I wasn’t all that unhappy that he advanced the runner, but at the same time he was trying for a hit.”

Scobey two days in a row, the power starting to come now. How are you guys getting that out of him?

“He’s gonna be a special one too. I fell in love with Scobey right from the beginning because he’s such a great defensive third baseman. Like, this guy, the only person I could compare him to, you remember, Christian Ibarra, who played for me years ago? This kid’s that level of defensive third baseman. I mean, he’s really, really outstanding.

“And I’ve said this many, many times. You know, when you coach as long as I have, I can remember two seasons, one at Notre Dame and one at LSU, where our season virtually was ruined because we didn’t have a defensive third baseman. And I know that position is the most underrated position on the field. You don’t realize you don’t have a good third baseman, until you don’t have a good third baseman, okay? And Scobey has just made all the plays, and if he hit .050 he’d play every day because of his defense at third base.

“But I knew he could be a good hitter. He showed glimpses of it in the fall, and he got off to a slow start this spring, but he’s finding his groove now. His confidence is growing with each passing game, and he’s batting right in the middle of the order for us now. I mean, he’s gonna be one of the very best players in this league going forward.”

Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!