USC Baseball Begins Quest For Three-Peat

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Ray Tanner sees it as making a terrific thing even better. At least that’s what the two-time national champion is hoping for with star closer Matt Price moving to the rotation. Tanner said the switch gives the Gamecocks a chance to get more than 100 innings from Price’s electric stuff instead of the 59 innings he logged last season. Teamed alongside staff ace Michael Roth, South Carolina looks like a solid bet to contend for a third College World Series crown — as long as someone picks up Price’s old role. “Can he be an outstanding starter? I think he can,” Tanner said Friday. “Does that leave us a void at the end? I hope not.” Price has been a wonderful luxury the past two seasons and as big a reason as anyone why the Gamecocks will raise a second championship banner at Carolina Stadium when the season opens against VMI on Feb. 17. The junior right-hander had 10 saves as a freshman and then led the nation with 20 a year ago. And he came up the biggest at some of the Gamecocks’ most important moments. Price saved both of South Carolina’s NCAA super regional wins in 2010, then won twice at the College World Series including the 2-1 clinching victory over UCLA. He was even sharper last year, going 2-0 with saves in each of the Gamecocks’ closing wins in the CWS best-of-three finale against Florida. Price looked as good as gone when Arizona drafted him in the sixth round of last June’s Major League Baseball draft. Price said the Diamondbacks made him a fair offer, but not enough to get him to leave the Gamecocks. Price is ready to step up to his new challenge. His approach to things won’t change now that he’ll be pitching in the first inning instead of the later ones. “The mindset is as a starter just be who I’ve always been, just go after hitters,” he said. Tanner said Price has four workable pitches (fastball, slider, curveball and change-up) and has not been able to use them all as a closer. “If it works, it was a good idea. If it wasn’t, it was the pitching coach’s idea,” Tanner joked. It certainly seems like a tantalizing idea that could vex Southeastern Conference opponents this season. Roth was an all-SEC pitcher last year who went 14-3 with a 1.06 earned-run average that was second best in the country as the Gamecocks’ Friday starter. If Price can back him up on Saturday, it would give South Carolina one of the league’s best one-two punches. The Gamecocks have several candidates for that third arm on the weekend, including Colby Holmes and big left-hander Adam Westmoreland who made only 11 appearances last year as he returned from Tommy John surgery. Taking over Price’s role at the start of spring practice is sophomore Forrest Koumas, who made the all-SEC freshman team last year going 6-1 with 2.93 ERA, primarily as a starter. Roth said the switches just show how deep South Carolina’s pitchers are across the board. “We’ve got plenty of pitchers. We’ve got plenty of veterans in the bullpen,” Roth said. “I have confidence in those guys. I think they’re going to do fantastic.” Tanner said Koumas, a former high-school quarterback, has the fierce, unafraid mentality he likes from his closers. Some might argue Tanner’s adding question marks to a club that’s got plenty of them already. The Gamecocks enter the without three-quarters of last year’s infield as third baseman Adrian Morales and second baseman Scott Wingo finished their eligibility and shortstop Peter Mooney left for the pros. South Carolina is also without an experienced catcher and will likely shuttle true freshman Grayson Greiner and junior Dante Rosenberg behind the plate. Roth shakes off the concerns. Expectations are as high as they always are at South Carolina, he says, even before the Gamecocks pulled off two straight national championships. “Freshman year, we were losing to Clemson and we got booed,” Roth said with a laugh. “So for me, it’s no different.” Tanner hopes his latest moves keep the Gamecocks on top. He’s always open to change, though. “If it’s not a situation that is not productive to us, we’ll go back to the way it we were,” he said. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.