The South Carolina baseball pitching staff struggled heavily during the 2025 season under head coach Paul Mainieri. In his first year at South Carolina, the team had a combined ERA of 6.41, which ranked second to last in the SEC.
After the season ended in the first round of the SEC Tournament, Mainieri and staff, including pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Terry Rooney, immediately went to work in the portal.
“We felt like on the mound, we had to get some 'stuff,' so to speak,” Rooney said on the "On The Clock" podcast. “Some power type stuff that will allow us to finish games, allow us to get some strikeouts, and we feel like we’ve done that.”
Top transfer arms
Junior right-hander Amp Phillips enters his first season with the Gamecocks after spending his past three years at Spartanburg Methodist College and USC Upstate. The 2025 Big South Newcomer of the Year winner has quickly emerged as one of the potential weekend starter roles.
Phillips recorded a 7-2 record with a 3.64 ERA last season, striking out 81 batters in 84 innings of work. Phillips pitched six innings in the NCAA Regional against Clemson, striking out nine in the Spartans' loss.
Hailing from SEC opponent the Florida Gators, junior right-handed pitcher Alex Philpott comes in with plenty of conference experience. During his two seasons in Gainesville, Philpott struck out 72 batters in 67 innings. Philpott pitched during the NCAA Conway Regional and made an appearance in the 2024 College World Series in an elimination game against Kentucky.
Sophomore left-hander Bryce Navarre joins the Gamecocks after spending one season with the Texas Longhorns. Navarre saw limited action at Texas his freshman year and battled some minor injuries before he arrived on campus in the fall. Now fully healed, Navarre could be one of the dominant arms the staff needs in the spring.
“I think when you talk about Bryce, you know, coming out of high school, that was one of the things: he always won,” Rooney said on the "On the Clock" podcast. “He was always a competitor. He always has that breaking ball that he could throw with his eyes closed.”
Potential bullpen impacts
Four additional arms transferred in from the ACC, including juniors Bradley Hodges, Josh Gunther and Hudson Lee, as well as sophomore Connor Chicoli.
“Bradley Hodges is already kind of asserting himself with some guys when he doesn’t see some guys doing things with discipline or doing them the right way,” Mainieri said back in the fall. “He seems to be a kid that’s not afraid to speak up.”
Hodges spent the last three seasons at Virginia and made eight starts in 2025 with a 4.88 ERA. Gunther, a transfer from Wake Forest, held opponents to a .194 batting average in 2025 paired with a 3.41 ERA.
Lee, who transferred from Clemson, made 15 appearances and held opponents to a .192 batting average with the Tigers. As a freshman, Chicoli made 14 appearances at Georgia Tech and had 18 strikeouts.
Elijah Foster, who transferred from Sacred Heart, joins the program as a junior. During his sophomore campaign, Foster boasted a 5-3 record with 15 starts along with 76 strikeouts. Josh Gregoire, a junior from University of Louisiana at Monroe, did not pitch in the fall due to injury but is another name to keep an eye on for a bullpen role. Gregoire went 3-2 with five saves from the bullpen and boasted a 2.38 ERA last season.
During the fall, junior left-hander Alex Valentin emerged as one of the potential impact transfers for the Gamecocks. Valentin has a similar style and energy to former 2024 Gamecock pitcher and fan favorite Garrett Gainey, which could be just the passion and energy the staff was missing. Valentin made 16 appearances last season with 58 strikeouts in 67.2 innings.
Sophomore left-hander Logan Prisco, a JUCO transfer from Florence-Darlington Tech, comes to campus following a solid freshman season. Prisco had 82 strikeouts in 69.2 innings, helping lead the team to the 2025 JUCO World Series.
What’s next?
South Carolina opens its season on Feb. 13 against Northern Kentucky. The game is slated to start at 4 p.m. with a streaming service not yet announced.