What Paul Mainieri said about South Carolina baseball's newcomers for 2026 season

The South Carolina baseball program is in the midst of one of its busiest offseasons in recent memory. After picking up a 28-29 overall record (including a 6-24 mark in SEC play) and missing the NCAA Tournament in Paul Mainieri’s first season at the helm, the Gamecocks have revamped their roster over the past few months, adding 16 Division I players from the transfer portal and more from both the JUCO and high school ranks.

Mainieri spoke to the media for the first time since the end of the 2025 campaign on Wednesday. He touched on a number of topics, including his thoughts on South Carolina’s latest batch of newcomers.

Here’s what he had to say about them, in the order in which they were brought up during the press conference.

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Aaron Jamison (OF, Fort Scott Community College)

“He started out at West Virginia University [and] was there a year and a half. They had a coaching transition there. So, in the transition, he ended up leaving West Virginia and going to a junior college in Kansas – Fort Scott. And he did very, very well there.

“I sent [associate head coach and hitting coach] Monte Lee out to watch him play, and Monte came back and liked him. He’s a center fielder, potentially. He was our first recruit.”

Caleb Hoover (1B, Grayson College)

“Caleb’s father played [in] the NFL. His brother is a starting quarterback for TCU, Josh Hoover. Caleb went to Oklahoma State this past fall, and he was just stacked up behind two or three other left-handed hitters of his kind of mold – power-hitting, first baseman, DH, potentially an outfielder. So, he knew he wasn’t going to get the chance to play this year at Oklahoma State. He transferred after the fall and went to Grayson College outside of Dallas. And did he have a great spring.

“One of the things we recruited him was with the idea of trying to make him an outfielder. I don’t know what it’s going to look like. I haven’t worked with him yet, obviously. So, we’ll see if he can become a left fielder or not. If not, he’s a DH and, potentially, [a] first baseman. Of course, we’ve got a pretty good first baseman returning, so I’m hoping he can play the outfield. At worst, I think he’s a DH, but he’s a power-hitting, left-handed guy.”

Tyler Bak (OF, Wofford)

“Chris Gordon is our director of player development. I didn’t even know they had these stats in college, but Chris tells me that Tyler Bak was fourth in the nation in runs saved as a center fielder. So, that right away told us, ‘Hey, we got a kid that can cover the outfield out there.’

“Actually, as another left-handed hitter, he was different from the mold of the first guys that we had recruited, which our emphasis was on power hitters. He’s more of a bat handler, left-handed hitter. But I watched video of him, and he was hitting balls from the left-field line to the right-field line and everything in between. [He] didn’t strike out a lot, stole some bases. So, it was more of a prototypical center fielder that can go get the ball and create havoc, can bunt for hits, do those kinds of things.”

Ethan Lizama (OF, Western Kentucky)

“Ethan played at Western Kentucky, and Western Kentucky had a really great team this year. They won well over 40 games. Ethan was the MVP of the Conference [USA] Tournament. I can’t remember if he hit two or three home runs in the conference tournament, but he had a walk-off hit in the conference tournament.

“[He’s a] big, strong left-handed hitter. [He] looks athletic, been a right fielder. So, anyway, we brought him in. He fell in love with South Carolina.”

Luke Yuhasz (OF/1B, Louisiana)

“He’s had some injury problems, so his numbers aren’t as great as you would expect. But we got nothing but positive reports from the scouts in that area and others. [We] watched a lot of video on him. He’s a good-looking athlete for a big guy. He’s got power, but he had an issue with a hamate bone this year. So, he missed some time this year with a broken hand.”

Amp Phillips (RHP, USC Upstate)

“I was watching that game [Clemson versus USC Upstate in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament], and I was like, ‘Man, see, now that’s the kind of pitcher I would like to have – just a really gutty competitor through strikes. He had good stuff. I think he was up to 94 miles an hour with most of his fastballs. [He] had a really good curveball. He was not a show-off on the mound, but he pitched with a lot of emotion.

“Well, lo and behold, the kid ends up going into the transfer portal, so I was like, ‘We’re going after that kid.’ Fortunately, we were able to land him, and he turned down a lot of money to stay in school.”

Bradley Hodges (LHP, Virginia)

“The third to last weekend of the season at Georgia Tech, a very good hitting team, he went seven innings with nine strikeouts on two hits. That was kind of his ‘coming-out party.’ But then, he did not pitch well the last two weekends of the season. A lot of people attributed that to arm fatigue because he was just coming back [from Tommy John surgery the year before]. Then, of course, their coach left to go become the coach of Mississippi State, so he went into the transfer portal.

“He’s been working all summer down in South Florida with Cressey [Sports Performance]. In terms of his building up strength and rehab and so forth, there’s been a good working relationship between our staff and their staff down there to do what’s best for this kid.

“I was a little bit worried that somebody would see that one outing against Georgia Tech and pop the kid and give him the money that he would have taken to sign. But he ended up not signing, so we’re excited about having him.”

Elijah Foster (RHP, Sacred Heart)

“He pitched for Sacred Heart against us this year. I remember when he went out to the mound that I was over in the other dugout, saying to myself, ‘Wow, this kid’s got a good arm.’

“He had a very explosive fastball. He was like 96-97 [miles per hour] at Sacred Heart. But his defense behind him that day… was very porous, so it forced him to throw a lot of extra pitches. Then, he started to have some command issues, and he didn’t pitch long in the game. But we remembered him, and when he went in the portal, we went after him. And we were able to get him.”

Josh Gregoire (RHP, Louisiana-Monroe)

“He had had some arm issues at [LSU Eunice], so he wasn’t highly recruited coming out of junior college. He ended up going to Louisiana-Monroe as a walk-on. Well, he got healthy, he changed his repertoire of pitches a little bit, and he became their closer. They didn’t have a great team this year, but he saved like seven games. I’m talking about a kid that throws like in the mid-90s and has an unbelievable split-finger fastball, as well. He was the best arm in the portal at that time, so we jumped on it.”

Patrick Evans (3B, Florence Darlington Technical College)

“I think Patrick is just a really great ball player, all-around player. And he could probably play anywhere on the infield. We’ll line him up at third base against Dawson Harmon… and we’ll see who can handle the defense there.

“He’s in summer school here with us already. He could have potentially been drafted, but also set a number high enough that he wouldn’t get it, so that he would come to school.”

Dawson Harmon (3B, College of Central Florida)

“He was the Florida Junior College Player of the Year. Power was a big focus for our recruiting class; he had 24 home runs. I think we satisfied that with him, as well as Caleb Hoover and some of the other guys. Harmon was also, like I said, First-Team All-American.”

Jack Reynolds (SS, Gulf Coast Community College)

“Jack Reynolds is an infielder who started at A.C. Flora [High School] and then transferred to P27 [Academy]. Then, he was at Gulf Coast Community College.

“We sent Monte out to see him; Monte liked him. We committed him. And then, he ended up having an injury and missing the rest of the season, so he only played 17 games at Gulf Coast Community College. But he’s got a lot of versatility. He could play anywhere on the infield.”

Will Craddock (SS, T.L. Hanna High School)

“Will Craddock is a kid I’m really excited about. He’s one from T.J. Hanna High School. I think he had eight or nine home runs this year for their school.

“He’s a good-looking athlete – tall, going to grow into his body – and he could be a real force before he’s done here. He was a little put back because he had had an arm injury when he was younger and had surgery, and then that surgery was starting to bother him a little bit, so they had to go in and do just a little minor cleanup there. But it kept him from being able to throw at full strength until a certain point of the season. He was actually a shortstop, and by that point, their team was doing really well. Somebody else was playing shortstop, [so] they put Will at first base because it was less throwing.

“I think his arm’s 100% now. So, I’ll be interested to see what he looks like on the left side of the infield, as well. He ended up hitting and had a great year, but played mostly at first base, although he’s much more versatile than just the first baseman. We’ll just see how that plays out.”

Patrick Dudley (LHP, Atlantic Shores Christian School)

“He was recruited by the previous coaching staff, but he stayed with us. He’s from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and he actually turned down quite a bit of money in the draft. [I’m really] excited about the future with Patrick Dudley and [to] see what kind of role he can have on our team.”

Erik Parker (SS, Georgia)

“He was drafted out of high school two years ago in the 15th round, went to Georgia and just didn’t get an opportunity to play. They went with all the older guys. But he went away this summer to the Northwoods League. He had about 50 or 60 appearances at the plate, hit over .300. [He’s a] good-looking player. [I’m] excited about seeing what he can do.”

Reese Moore (C/OF, Iowa)

“He actually was First-Team All-Big 10 this past year, but not as strictly a catcher, as a utility player. He caught some [but] didn’t catch a lot, and then [he] could play the outfield, as well. But he’s a really good-looking left-handed hitter. He’s got some pop, and he’s a really great kid. I really enjoyed going to meet him in Des Moines, Iowa.

“How many of you in this room have wrestled in front of 13,000 people? He did it two years in a row in the semifinals of the state championship. Now, he obviously didn’t win it, or I would have told you he was a state champion. But that’s pretty cool to have wrestled in front of 13,000 people. … He also was a middle linebacker in football, so I’m going to guess this kid’s got some toughness to him.”

Jake Randolph (UTIL, Presbyterian)

“He actually didn’t catch much because he had injured himself in his freshman year when he went into home plate sliding head first – and, of course, he screwed up his shoulder. So, I told him I’d recruit him if he promised me he’d never slide ahead first again. He made that promise to me, and I think he’s making a really good recovery.

“He also did some really great things with the bat for Presbyterian. He’s one of their best hitters, if not their best hitter.”

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