What South Carolina baseball coach Paul Mainieri said after beating North Florida

Following his team’s walk-off victory against North Florida, South Carolina baseball coach Paul Mainieri spoke to the media. So did third baseman (and walk-off hero) KJ Scobey. Here’s what the Gamecock skipper and freshman had to say.

Opening Statement (Mainieir)

“Great to get the first real walk-off win this year…we had another earlier this year to make it a 10-run game. This was our first true walk-off win. You forget how exciting those are when you’ve been away from the game and have your first one. I’m real happy for KJ. It was a beautiful swing he put on the ball. I had a lot of confidence in him. I gave him the green light on 3-0, but he tried to do a little bit too much with that pitch. Then, with two strikes, he had a great approach and tried to go the other way. It worked out well for us. I thought we pitched well all night. It was a good victory for us.”

KJ, can you take us through that swing? Were you sitting on anything 3-2? (Scobey)

“Yeah, honestly, I was looking for a fastball down the middle the whole at-bat. I finally got it and put a good swing on it and was able to get it done.”

Two random questions for [KJ]. Sometimes you go batting glove-less, and sometimes you put one on. Is there any rhyme or reason to that? (Scobey)

“Honestly, I’m just mixing it up. I just go with whatever feels good.

And the ball that got stuck in your glove Saturday (against Ole Miss), was that the first time that’s happened to you, and did you consider throwing your glove across the diamond? (Scobey)

“I mean, I’ve never even seen something like that. I haven’t had it happen. On a line drive, I’ve had it happen, but never on a groundball.”

You had your teammates chase you out to the outfield…what’s it like to have that walk-off hit and have that moment with your team? (Scobey)

“Yeah, it was awesome. They were mad at me for running so far. But I told them it was because they were all chasing me.”

This was the second mid-week in a row that Jackson has pitched well. With only two mid-week games left this season, do you look at him as a guy who can help on the weekend? (Mainieri)

“Yes, that’s why I took him out after the fifth inning. His pitch count was still very manageable. This way, we can have him available for Sunday if necessary.”

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Before the season started, you talked about your confidence in freshmen. Can you talk about how KJ Scobey, Beau Hollins, and Gavin Braland have risen to the occasion? (Mainieri)

“Throughout my coaching career, I’ve always had lots of courage to play freshmen. I don’t really care what year they are, I’m going to play the best guys, the guys who I think give us the best chance to win.

“Scobey–I told you right from the start–his defense is so stellar at that position. That position is the most underrated position on the field defensively. If you don’t have a good third baseman, it will show up. He’s not only good, he’s great. Even if he hit .200 or below, he’d still be the everyday third baseman just because he’s so great.

“Beau, his story is well-told. His defense is outstanding as well. You can’t sacrifice offense at that position, but I told him, because of his defense, that if we had lopsided wins or whatever, we’d get him into games early. I knew that defensively he would be good for us. And [I told him] not to take those at-bats lightly even if it is in mop-up duty, so to speak. Every time I put him in the game, he seemed to hit the ball hard. Finally, early in the year, I gave him a start, and he played a really solid game. I gave him a start the next game, and he played awesome at The Citadel. Ever since then, basically, he’s been a starting player. He’s been swinging the bat great, playing great defense. Tonight, he made a little bit of a mental error on that second error by Tippett on the ball in the hole. He’s got to learn that if he doesn’t have him with a pick, he’s got to come off the base and block that ball…those are the things that a young kid has got to learn. They only learn it by playing. Sometimes you have to go through the growing pains.

“In Braland’s case: he’s just a gritty little hard-nosed son of a gun. I think the world of him because of the way he plays. Our pitchers pitch their best when he’s behind the plate, and that’s why he catches most of the time now.”

Before KJ’s hit, Jordan Carrion had a good swing on the ball, but that came after he had bunted three balls foul. Was there anything you said to him between those moments? (Mainieri)

“I don’t think what I said to him helped him necessarily. I wasn’t too happy with his effort on the bunt, especially with two strikes; I don’t know why he tried to bunt down the third base line. That didn’t make any sense; we don’t practice that. You know, he’s had a little bit of a rough time, he didn’t have a great weekend. He’s been so good for us since we inserted him…I knew it was just a matter of time before he did something good for us. He hits the ball best when he hits the ball to the opposite field. Most kids get pull-happy because they think it’s more macho to pull the ball. Scobey is the same way, he hits the ball so hard the other way. I don’t know why they don’t do it most of the time. I was really happy for Jordan. After a difficult weekend this past weekend, and tonight, the first couple of at-bats weren’t so great. But he ended up coming through when we needed him the most.”

Do you have an update on the injury situations for Dylan Eskew and Henry Kaczmar? (Mainieri)

“No update on Dylan.

“Henry just has a sore leg from the other day. We don’t think it’s a pulled muscle. We think it’s a bad cramp that’s just been sore for a couple of days.”

Will Kaczmar be ready for the weekend? (Mainieri)

“I don’t know. I hope so. Not sure.”

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