South Carolina gives James Hicks starting nod for Super Regional opener
Mark Kingston is usually secretive with his decision-making. He doesn’t want to give anything away that might give his opponent an advantage.
In the back of his mind, he might already know what he’s going to do. But it’s all about waiting and seeing what happens.
So when Florida announced its pitching plans for the upcoming Super Regional, Kingston went ahead and named James Hicks his game one starter.
“He’s been tremendous lately. He’s pitching with a lot of confidence. He has very good stuff, very good command. His presence out there on the mound has inspired a lot of confidence in the entire dugout,” Kingston said.
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In hindsight, it wasn’t a shocking decision. Hicks has been pitching his best as of late. He’s pitched 11.2 innings and allowed no runs on five hits with 12 strikeouts to two walks in his last two starts. Both starts came in big spots: the SEC Tournament and Columbia regional.
Even before then, Hicks had been a do-it-all guy for the Gamecocks. He’s 8-1 with a 3.32 ERA in 24 appearances (five starts).
That’s not to say it’s been all perfect for him, though. He admitted he went through a “rough patch” and leaned on pitching coach Justin Parker to figure things out.
“We broke down what I was doing wrong and we came back with some mechanical changes that really helped,” Hicks said. “It feels so good to have the coaching staff still support me and stick with me, even though I was struggling there for a little bit. So it means the world to me.”
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Hicks’ next start might go down as one of the more important ones of his career. He’ll face a Florida lineup that is getting hot at the right time. The Gators outscored opponents 21-3 in their final three games of regional play.
It won’t be the first time Hicks has faced the Gators this year. When Florida came to Columbia from April 20-22, he allowed two runs on four hits in four innings of relief work. South Carolina went on to sweep that series.
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Needless to say, a lot has changed since then.
“They’ve got very little flaws, but coach Parker’s one of the best in the business at coming up with a game plan on how to attack them,” Hicks said. “So I need to get with him, and it’ll probably be similar to last time but also there’s probably going to be some changes. So I’ll just get with him and figure it out.”
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If Hicks can deliver another strong outing, he puts South Carolina one step closer towards its ultimate goal. The Gamecocks are two wins away from a College World Series berth.
“It definitely is motivating knowing that this is a very storied program and a program that’s been here before,” Hicks said. “But really, it’s just a team that doesn’t want to be done yet. We come to work every day, and we just want to keep playing every day. So we’re just focusing in on what we can do each day to keep going.”
Hicks will toe the rubber opposite of Florida right-hander Brandon Sproat in game one Friday night in Gainesville.
First pitch was supposed to be at 6 p.m. but there will be a weather delay to start the night.
