Mark Kingston updates Jacob Compton's injury
South Carolina baseball has had to wait a long time to see Jacob Compton on the field in a competitive setting and it looks like the Gamecocks will have to wait a little bit longer.
Mark Kingston said after Tuesday’s win Compton hit a roadblock with his back injury and is still a little bit away from being able to impact this offense.
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“He had a little bit of a setback. He was getting to the point where he was taking swings and batting practice on the field,” Kingston said. “Then he had a little bit of a setback in terms of the back. My guess is it’s probably a two-to-three-week setback.”
Compton injured his back before the Gamecocks’ season started, missing most if not all of the preseason and the first 18 games this year.
Initially, Compton was expected to get out of his back brace after a month, begin swinging a bat and then ratchet up from there. Compton was back taking batting practice recently but that setback hindered that progress.
That could mean an even longer wait for Compton to be reinserted into things, and Kingston hasn’t ruled out the transfer portal bat coming back at some point this season.
The Gamecocks, though, are going to be cautious.
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“We haven’t closed the door on him being able to help us at some point. Obviously, he had really good numbers and was brought in for a reason, too,” Kingston said. “But the back is a sensitive thing. For a hitter who has a violent swing like he does, you have to be careful with it.”
A lefty bat, Compton started his career in junior college before jumping up to the Division I level at Memphis. There he slashed .291/.365/.540 with 11 home runs and 55 RBI, leading the team in slugging, home runs and RBI last season.
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If healthy, Compton would have certainly had a role on this year’s team as a power-hitting, left-handed bat.
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The Gamecocks have done fine without Compton at the moment, off to a 17-1 start before SEC play starts this weekend.
The offense has typically hummed with South Carolina slashing .311/.455/.615 entering Tuesday’s game while averaging over 11 runs and 10.4 hits per game.
South Carolina’s won four straight series to open the season over UMass Lowell, Penn, archrival Clemson and most recently against Bethune-Cookman.
The Gamecocks won their final tune-up before conference play starts with a 5-0 win over Presbyterian Tuesday afternoon.
