Everything Paul Mainieri said after South Carolina's midweek win over Charleston

Following a 4-3 win over Charleston on Tuesday, South Carolina head coach Paul Mainieri spoke to the media. Here’s everything he had to say.

You had Ryder Garino warming up there early on in the game, I think twice, and then you went with Zach Russell. Was there a reason for that?

“I mean, the only reason was because I wanted Zach Russell to get into that kind of a situation right there. And Garino has got a little more experience than Zach does, but I just wanted to start an inning fresh with Zach Russell instead of bringing him in in the middle of the inning. So unfortunately, he threw two great pitches, and he hung a slider, then he threw a pick-off play away, then he didn’t cover first base. So it wasn’t really one of his more stellar outings, but he’ll learn from it because he’s just a young kid. But the more times we can get them out there, the better off.

“The key to the game was when Garino came in after Palmer, and boy he he saved the game for us. Bases loaded, nobody out, he struck out the side. So kept us in the game, even though we were losing by two runs. We hit several balls pretty hard, but just right at people. And so we were having a little bit of misfortune and couldn’t get more runs. We got one clutch hit early in the game. Didn’t really get one after that. So I really didn’t think we were going to score a lot of runs. So I felt like it was important we hold them right there. We even played infield in with the bases loaded, if I remember correctly. But Garino was awesome, and so was Marlatt. But what can you say about Jarvis Evans? I mean, he gave us a chance again, like he’s done every week. He was just tremendous.”

Paul, you’ve coached a lot of games. Do you ever remember winning one on a balk?

“Yeah, my last game at LSU, the regional championship in Eugene, Oregon, we won on a balk, almost a similar kind of play, actually. So that would make two in 40 years right there. By the way, Dylan Eskew is taking full credit for that, being the first base coach there. John Hendry is out of town recruiting, and Dylan took over as our first base coach. His first game, we had a guy picked off first base. So I think we got to give him credit for this victory because he made up for getting a guy picked off the last time he coached first.”

Do you think this series with Charleston will continue?

“Yeah, next year we’ll play at Founders. I called Chad when I first got here, and said, ‘Hey, Chad, how come we’re not playing?’ I mean, it seems like we ought to be. I know there’s a lot of Gamecock fans over in Charleston. So the plan was first just to go over there because this schedule was done already. I inherited a schedule, and then something happened and an opening was created. So I just reached out to him and said, ‘Hey, you want to play in the spring also?’ And he was very excited about that. We plan on going back there in the fall again next year, and then them coming to play us at Founders. So yeah, they have such a good ballclub, and Chad does such a great job over there. And there’s no reason for us not to play, in my opinion.”

After that tough loss on Sunday, to bounce back in this way, how important was that going into Arkansas?

“I mean, I’m no dummy. Okay, well, I guess that’s up for debate, actually. But you like to win these close ones in the middle of the week. The weekend is going to be an unbelievable challenge to play (Arkansas), one of the top teams in the country. Listen, our kids played, I thought they played great the whole weekend against Oklahoma. They really did. We deserved better. It’s nobody’s fault but our own. I mean, we just didn’t do what it took to win on Sunday. But I actually thought we outplayed Oklahoma all weekend. We out-hit them every game. Our ERA was lower. We made less errors. I mean, I thought we played really good baseball the whole weekend. When I look at it and say, we went one and two, I’m like, ‘How the heck did that happen?’ But when you get to a one-run game at the end, you got to throw the ball over the plate. We didn’t in the seventh inning, and they were able to tie the game. And then when you make the plays in the ninth inning when we had a chance to put it away, so we have nobody to blame but ourselves. But I really felt we played well all weekend, and so the confidence of the team is good. You just got to be able to put behind you those negative things that happen, the adversity that happens. We didn’t play exceptionally great tonight. Jarvis did. We got a couple of hits. But for the kids demand, obviously, was a big factor in the outcome of tonight’s game.”

Still learning some things about your team. What did you learn about Garino in the situation that he was in?

“He’s a bulldog, man. Ryder is a kid I’ve liked a lot from the get-go, and he throws a lot of strikes. He’s got good stuff. I think it’s going to get better as he puts on some muscle. And some strength as his body matures. But right now, he’s a good pitcher, and I have a lot of confidence in him. The only reason I really took him out when I did was because I want him to be available for this weekend. I didn’t want to extend him too far, you know, it’s such a delicate thing. You don’t want to look too far ahead and not control the game that you’re in the present game that’s so unlike me to look ahead, you know. But the reality is, you got to have some arms when you’re going to Arkansas. So Ryder will be available, and so will Parker. But I was really proud of Parker coming in and doing such a wonderful job tonight.”

Did anything approach-wise change in the seventh inning with those three walks?

“We showed a lot of discipline at the plate. But the kid was, he was pretty wild. I mean, I’m not one for walking a lot. I like to teach you guys to hit, but if they’re gonna give it to you, you gotta take it. You know, at that point, I’d take the runs anyway. They were willing to give them to us.”

With Jarvis Evans, he threw a season-high in pitches, but the sixth inning was really easy for him. Did you think about throwing him out there for the seventh?

“I briefly thought about it, but not terribly because today’s Tuesday, so we could potentially use him on Sunday. Now, this weekend series, I’m not saying we will. Terry and I are going to discuss it at length before this weekend, but I didn’t want to over-extend him, just in case we want to have him available. I’m not sure if we will or not.”

Did Eddie Copper get up in the bullpen tonight?

“Yes.”

What’s his status?

“He’s ready to go. But I just never brought him in. Yeah, he’s ready to go, though.”

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