Two returning starters 'setting the tone' early for South Carolina pitching staff

Last season South Carolina went into the season with a three-headed monster in the rotation of Will Sanders, Noah Hall and Jack Mahoney.

All three went into the year expecting to start all year. But by the end of the season, it was Eli Jones and Matthew Becker anchoring two starting spots. 

Part of that was performance and another part injury, but both Jones and Becker were thrown into the fire from a rotation perspective. 

And now the Gamecocks are expecting both to take the next step as frontline starters in the SEC as fall scrimmages begin. 

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“They’ve done a really nice job so far this fall. You look at last year, you had Noah Hall and Mahoney and Sanders. They were your older guys that were leading the charge in the fall,” Mark Kingston said. “This year I would say those two guys–Jones and Becker– are setting the tone for the work ethic and how guys are going about their business.” 

Both started the season as bullpen arms but were weekend starters at different points in SEC play. South Carolina slid Becker into the rotation earlier than Jones, but Jones started multiple Friday night games down the stretch. 

Becker finished last year with 11 starts–tied for the second-most on the team–with a 4.83 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He struck out 71 in 54 innings with 26 walks allowed. 

Jones–in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery–made 22 appearances (six starts) with a 3.95 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP last season over the course of 54.2 innings. He struck out 63 to 17 walks.

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“For their personal growth, I just want to see them take another step. They both took nice steps last year,” Kingston said. “But for us to be really good we need them to take another step in development and be dominant-type guys. For both of them, I think it’s consistency. When they’re both at the top of their game, they’ve been dominant.”

Each showed flashes both as a reliever and starter last season. Becker had a dominant outing in relief against Missouri then a six-inning, two-run performance at home against Florida. 

Jones also tossed five innings of two-run ball on the road against Arkansas in a hostile Friday night environment in Fayetteville. But both struggled at times too with three combined starts in SEC play allowing at least four earned runs.  

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“Eli Jones has had dominant outings against really good teams. Matthew Becker’s had dominant outings against really good teams,” Kingston said. “For now, the biggest thing for their growth is doing that a lot more often with a lot more consistency.” 

South Carolina is going to ask both to be key cogs for a Gamecocks pitching staff with questions entering the 2024 season.

Both, if healthy, will be frontline weekend-type pitchers with the rest of the roles still needing to be figured out.  

“Pitching-wise, we’re going to need guys to step up. We need returners to improve, just like guys did last year,” Kingston said. “I think we have the arms. I think we have the talent and the depth from a pitching standpoint to get the job done. Now it’s about which guys make the most progress with Matt Williams, our new pitching coach, and who takes the reigns and get the biggest role.”

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