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What Paul Mainieri said after South Carolina's 6-3 win on Saturday

imageby:Jack Veltri•about 14 hours•

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Paul Mainieri (Katie Dugan/GamecockCentral)

Following a 6-3 win over Milwaukee on Saturday, South Carolina head coach Paul Mainieri spoke to the media after the game. Below is a summary of what he had to say.

— Told the players don’t get bored winning baseball games. It’s really hard to win. Coached over 2,300 games and can tell you it’s really hard. But today, they did what it takes to win.

— Matthew Becker might have pitched better today than he did last week. Today he was in complete command and the only reason he took him out was because of pitch count.

— So proud of Jordan Carrion. He’s such a team player and great teammate. He sparked the team with his RBI single into right field in the second inning. He made all the plays. What can you say about him?

— It was unfortunate the first hit was a routine fly ball lost in the sun. Dalton Mashore is such a great right fielder. The ball tailed into the sun and he lost it at the last second. It was a shame that happened for Becker but he went on to pitch great.

— Mostly wanted to put Carrion in there to give him an opportunity. Doesn’t know what they’ll do going forward but it was important for him to get a full game under his belt.

— KJ Scobey and Carrion came through with big hits in the second. Felt they were on the verge of blowing the game open in that inning. Felt that same way when Petry grounded into a DP in the seventh with the bases loaded. Wants to be able to get some other pitchers in there. But when the game is on the line you want to go with the guys who give you the most confidence.

— Henry Kaczmar had been struggling defensively up until the season began. They changed his style a little bit and made him aggressive to attack the ball. After that, he was charging at the ball and everything was sticking in the pocket of his glove. Now he doesn’t have to charge everything. He showed some good confidence out there. That’s the shortstop they recruited.

— It’s never perfect offensively. Hitting is the most difficult thing to do in sports. You’re never going to feel 100 percent satisfied. Somebody told him before the game they had the fourth highest hard hit outs, meaning 95 MPH or higher. They’ve been hitting some balls really hard. Talmadge LeCroy has the most hard hit outs of anyone. When the cold air is there, it’s hard to hit the balls over the wall. LeCroy is a classic example of that. But they’ve also had some poor at-bats at times. It’s a hard aspect of the game to do. Some of the pitchers they faced today were very good. Thinks the guys are approaching the at-bats good.

— LeCroy is a good hitter. The hits will fall for him. He’s the number one catcher and will get more at-bats going forward. Not worried about him. He’ll get his hits. He’s a veteran guy. He knows he’s hitting the ball hard.

— Doesn’t think Eskew’s injury is serious. Mild strain in his rhomboid. He played a little catch today and it loosened up a little bit. They’ll have to monitor it as the week goes on.

— The team’s confidence has been high so far. The guys are playing the game loose and having fun.

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