3 South Carolina baseball players have surgery

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina will not have outfielder Gene Cone, pitcher Taylor Widener or catcher Chris Cullen for fall baseball practice after each needed surgery.

The school said Tuesday that Cone had an operation to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. Widener and Cullen each underwent ulna nerve transposition surgery on their right arms.

Cone started all 57 games as a sophomore last spring, hitting .257 with 48 runs scored, two homers and 12 RBIs.

Widener will be a junior next spring and made 19 appearances and led the Gamecocks with nine saves. He had a 1-5 record with a 4.78 earned-run average.

Cullen is a 6-5 freshman who picked the Gamecocks over Georgia and Vanderbilt last year.

All three are expected to be ready for spring workouts in January.