James Hicks dominant, South Carolina picks up first Hoover win since 2018
When James Hicks came to South Carolina, he initially profiled as a starter, someone who could come in and get ground ball out after ground ball out.
Asked to be a reliever this year, Hicks had to wait nearly two years for his first SEC start. He got it and delivered one of the biggest wins of the last month for the Gamecocks.
“It was awesome. It’s something I’ve dreamed of all my life pretty much and something I’ve been working towards,” Hicks said. “Really grateful for the opportunity, and I just wanted to leave it all out there, hold nothing back. So I’m pretty happy with how it went.
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Hicks dominated to the tune of nearly seven scoreless innings as South Carolina beat Georgia 9-0 for its first SEC Tournament win since 2018.
It’s also the first shutout for South Carolina in the SEC Tournament in program history.
The 6.2-inning, six-strikeout performance snapped a five-game Hoover losing streak for the Gamecocks and kept any chance at hosting alive for a team that was in desperate need of a win.
“He’s been everything that we could hope for. Now that we’re in the position we are from an injury standpoint, he got the opportunity to start in an SEC game,” Mark Kingston said. “And he came through with flying colors like we thought he probably would, but I’m really glad that he did.
South Carolina (39-17, 16-13 SEC) now plays No. 3-seeded LSU at 10:30 a.m. ET in the first game of the double-elimination portion of the bracket.
The reasoning for Hicks starting was simple, toss a sinkerball-heavy pitcher against a Georgia lineup stacked with righties and let them beat the ball into the ground.
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It worked to perfection with 10 of the 20 outs coming via the groundout. He’d work in and out of trouble most of the day before leaving in the seventh.
“I’ve been working on the sinker making sure I can get it in on people, and today I just went out there and reminded myself to stay within myself, not try to do anything extra, just relax and throw,” Hicks said.
“And then coach (Justin) Parker came up with the game plan, and he’s really good at scouting, and that was what to throw everyone. I just trusted him and tried to execute each pitch
Hicks ran out of gas some, loading the bases with two outs but Cade Austin struck out leadoff hitter Ben Anderson to end the threat.
Austin finished the game, striking out three over 2.1 innings and giving up just two base runners.
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South Carolina did enough offensively to give Hicks a lead, looking more like the offense that allowed them to build a 34-6 record.
The Gamecocks took advantage of five Georgia walks and some timely hitting to plate two in the second and three more in the third.
Evan Stone started the scoring, roping a two-run single to left field. The Gamecocks got three more in the fourth before Will Tippett busted the game wide open with a bases-loaded triple in the seventh.
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Georgia intentionally walked Ethan Petry and Gavin Casas in the inning to load the bases and get to Tippett.
After struggling situationally the last few weeks, South Carolina hit 8-for-18 with runners on base and 7-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
The Gamecocks picked up 12 hits, the first time they’ve had double-digit hits in an SEC game since game three against Auburn, a 10-game span.
“Approach-wise we kind of went back to our roots at the beginning of the season, live middle of the field, outfield gap,” Tippett said. “And if they hang a breaking ball in there, then we’ll pull it to the pull side gap.”
Up next: The Gamecocks get a much-anticipated rubber match with LSU at 10:30 a.m. ET in the first game of the double-elimination portion of the bracket.
