South Carolina baseball's current roster as transfer portal window closes

It’s been a non-stop offseason for South Carolina after its season ended in the first round of the SEC Tournament nearly a month and a half ago. For as much movement as there has been, the Gamecocks nearly have all their pieces in place for next season.

Soon after the season ended, the team went right to work and into the transfer portal to retool the roster. Even before the portal officially opened, South Carolina had already landed commitments from players interested in coming to Columbia.

With the portal now closed, no more players are allowed to enter. In total, the Gamecocks had 19 players transfer and 14 newcomers decide to join the program from the portal. This doesn’t mean they’re done adding pieces either, as transfers who are already in the portal can still pick their next school after the July 1 deadline.

As of now, there are 37 players on the roster, but that number will eventually be cut down to 34 with the roster limits changing. Let’s break down how the roster currently looks.

Catchers (4)

Returning: Talmadge LeCroy, Gavin Braland

Leaving: Max Kaufer, Ryan Bakes

Incoming: Noah Franklin (freshman), Reese Moore (transfer)

South Carolina lacked production at catcher in 2025, hitting a combined .157 with two homers and 21 RBI in 207 at-bats and allowing 76 stolen bases in 82 attempts. This was an early position of concern for head coach Paul Mainieri since last fall, which he and his staff have now addressed.

Iowa transfer Reese Moore, who earned All-Big Ten First Team honors this past season, figures to be the early favorite to start. Noah Franklin is young, but he’s certainly somebody who could do well if given the opportunity. Bringing back Talmadge LeCroy and Gavin Braland will provide some nice depth with both having starting experience, especially Braland, who started in 28 games as a freshman.

Infielders (9)

Returning: Beau Hollins, KJ Scobey

Leaving: Henry Kaczmar (transfer portal), Nolan Nawrocki (transfer portal), Cayden Gaskin (transfer portal), Will Tippett (transfer portal), Jordan Carrion (out of eligibility), Jase Woita (transfer portal)

Incoming: Logan Sutter (transfer), Erik Parker (transfer), Dawson Harman (JUCO), Caleb Hoover (JUCO), Patrick Evans (JUCO), Jack Reynolds (JUCO), Will Craddock (freshman)

While the Gamecocks saw plenty of players leave for the portal, they managed to retain two of their most important pieces in their freshman corner infielders, Beau Hollins and KJ Scobey. Despite South Carolina bringing in a handful of infielders who can play first base, Hollins should be starting if the season began today. Scobey, who was great at third base, has been playing shortstop this summer with the Lexington County Blowfish and now with Team USA’s collegiate team as he looks to earn a roster spot in training camp.

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Assuming Scobey slides over to shortstop next season, this would leave third base duties up for grabs. South Carolina will have a nice group of newcomers to pick from to decide this starting role. The biggest bat would be Logan Sutter, who hit 15 homers and 22 doubles at Purdue in 2025.

Second base is another position that will be freed up with the previous starter being Jordan Carrion, who’s now out of eligibility. Erik Parker, Patrick Evans, Jack Reynolds and Will Craddock are all potential options at that spot.

Outfielders (5)

Returning: None

Leaving: Dalton Mashore (out of eligibility), Blake Jackson (out of eligibility), Evan Stone (out of eligibility), Kennedy Jones (out of eligibility), Tyler June (JUCO)

Incoming: Tyler Bak (transfer), Ethan Lizama (transfer), Luke Yuhasz (transfer), Aaron Jamison (JUCO), Brandon Cromer Jr. (freshman)

Of all positions, the outfield will easily look the most different next season. Ethan Petry and Nathan Hall are expected to begin their pro careers when they’re selected in the upcoming MLB Draft. They could potentially return with each having one year of eligibility left, but that doesn’t seem likely.

Because of that, South Carolina will have to find a new starter at all three outfield spots before Opening Day. It did a nice job in the portal landing three players who could start right away in Tyler Bak, Ethan Lizama and Luke Yuhasz. If the season started today, Bak and Lizama would probably be shoo-ins to start since they’ve proven to be very productive at their previous schools. But don’t discount what others like Aaron Jamison and Brandon Cromer Jr. could do as well. The outfield is as open as it gets.

Right-handed pitchers (14)

Returning: Zach Russell, Brandon Stone, Riley Goodman, Cooper Parks, Parker Marlatt

Leaving: Roman Kimball (transfer portal), Dylan Eskew (out of eligibility), Eli Jerzembeck (transfer portal), Caleb Jones (out of eligibility), Eddie Copper (transfer portal), Tyler Pitzer (transfer portal), Ryder Garino (transfer portal), Brendan Sweeney (transfer portal)

Incoming: Josh Gregoire (transfer), Cullen Horowicz (transfer), Amp Phillips (transfer), Elijah Foster (transfer), Josh Gunther (transfer), Alex Philpott (transfer), Seth Graham-Pippin (JUCO), Luke Roupe (freshman), Seth Manning (freshman)

In a matter of weeks, South Carolina has significantly improved its pitching staff, mainly doing so through the portal. There’s still a long way to go until next season, but it’s hard to deny this group looks a lot better on paper compared to this time last year. The common theme with a lot of the new right-handed pitchers is that they throw harder and into the mid to upper 90s, which is something Mainieri desired.

Some of them could take more time to develop, specifically with an arm like Cullen Horowicz, who’s been clocked in at 99 miles per hour but had an 8.71 ERA at Samford last season. The same goes for another pitcher like Elijah Foster, who dealt with some command issues at Sacred Heart, but has a lot of potential.

That’s the main thing to take away with this batch of incoming right-handers. Each of them has a lot of potential to do great things at South Carolina. It’s ultimately going to come down to development. While there are a lot of pitchers leaving, the ones coming back could make a major impact next year.

Left-handed pitchers (5)

Returning: Jake McCoy

Leaving: Jarvis Evans Jr. (transfer portal), Aydin Palmer (transfer portal), Matthew Becker (out of eligibility), Ashton Crowther (transfer portal), Jackson Soucie (transfer portal), Wyatt Evans (transfer portal)

Incoming: Bradley Hodges (transfer), Alex Valentin (transfer), Logan Prisco (JUCO), Patrick Dudley (freshman)

South Carolina seemed set to return more than one left-handed pitcher for next season, but there have been a few recent portal entries that have changed that. Now it’s just Jake McCoy coming back, which is still good on its own. In his second year with the program, McCoy became a weekend starter and led the team in strikeouts, but he also had more walks than any Gamecock pitcher and had a 6.90 ERA. However, if summer ball numbers are any indication (25 strikeouts, 3 walks in 12.1 IP), he could be very solid and a potential frontline rotation starter in 2026.

Bradley Hodges and Alex Valentin each have starting experience at the Division I level, with Hodges coming from Virginia and Valentin from Texas State. Despite owning a 5.04 ERA in 69.2 innings at Flo-Dar, Logan Prisco was still a first-team All-Region pitcher last season. Patrick Dudley had a 2.00 ERA and struck out 85 batters in 47 innings as a senior in high school. So there’s a lot to like here with this bunch.

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