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What Paul Mainieri said after South Carolina's 5-2 win over Milwaukee on Friday

imageby:Jack Veltri•about 16 hours•

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Paul Mainieri (Katie Dugan/GamecockCentral)

Following a 5-2 win over Milwaukee on Friday, South Carolina head coach Paul Mainieri spoke to the media after the game. Below is a summary of what he had to say.

— Hard fought win today. Those two pitchers they faced were tough on South Carolina. Dylan Eskew wasn’t himself tonight. He has a little strain in his back that was affecting his delivery. They wanted to take him out in the third inning before it got any worse.

— Jase Woita stepped up with the grand slam. Mainieri didn’t think there were going to be any balls leaving the yard. Woita proved him wrong. That was the difference in the game.

— Knew Woita could hit. That’s why they gave him a chance at Winthrop. He’s sparked the team. They needed it.

— The preliminary was a strain by his scapula with Eskew. Hopefully that’s all it is. He could tell he wasn’t himself out there. Even Terry Rooney told him pregame he didn’t look like himself.

— Tyler Pitzer is a guy they will need and count on. He’s got some of the best stuff on the team. When he gets into a groove, he’s tough to hit. Rooney keeps singing his praises. He’s going to be a very vital guy. Real proud of the job Zach Russell did as well.

— For a guy that hasn’t played an awful lot of first base, Ethan Petry showed a lot of poise making the throw toward home plate to get the lead runner out. That was a very pivotal time in the game. He holds himself to a very high standard. He made a couple picks in the dirt that were very critical as well. He takes a lot of pride in his entire game.

— There’s a few guys who haven’t swung the bat like they did during the fall. You can’t depend on just Superman (Nathan Hall) and Captain America (Petry) every game. It was nice to see Woita get that big hit. They hit six or seven balls really hard tonight. On a normal day, they probably have a few more homers than just the one.

— Tells the reserve players to never look at a blowout as mop up duty. The coach takes notice when given the opportunity. There have been a lot of kids who have earned their playing time. That’s the only way to operate. You have to give them a chance. That’s how he’s done it his whole career. It’s going to be tougher when SEC play gets here and they face better pitching. But you’ve got to believe in somebody. Thought Winthrop was good opportunity to put Woita in. He hit the ball hard that night and likes the way he approaches his at-bats.

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