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Senior left-hander Michael Roth liked how the South Carolina team responded in a tight game to win its opener over VMI 2-1. But he saved his greatest appreciation for T&T Sporting Goods.
“It was kind of a crazy day around here. We didn’t know if we were going to actually have uniforms today with the names on our backs,” Roth said. “We need to give a special shout-out to T&T Sporting Goods for getting that done so we weren’t wearing our BP (batting practice) tops.”
Apparently, the opening-day white uniforms with garnet pinstripes showed up without the nameplates on the back. So T&T, the local store on Rosewood Drive, saved the day by getting the individual letters for the names sewn on the uniform backs.
“I guess they deserve a shout-out,” Tanner said. “They were clutch today getting us dressed up so we looked good.”
First pitch
The ceremonial first-pitch ceremony was unique in that the two players with that honor were the Most Outstanding Players in each of the past two College World Series — 2010 winner Jackie Bradley and 2011 winner Scott Wingo, who are both playing in the professional ranks. Their catchers were the pair who split the duties for last season’s team, Brady Thomas and Robert Beary.
Bradley threw a hard strike to Thomas, while Wingo made his peg to Beary from his old spot at second base.
Other players from last season’s team who returned were Adrian Morales, Steven Neff, Peter Mooney, John Taylor and Bryan Harper.
Young guns
USC started six newcomers Friday, with four of them being true freshmen: catcher Grayson Greiner, shortstop Joey Pankake, left fielder Tanner English and designated hitter Kyle Martin.
Greiner had two hits and threw out a runner attempting to steal in the ninth inning. English also had a pair of hits, including a bunt single. Martin added one hit, but Pankake went hitless and had one error.
Junior center fielder Evan Marzilli is impressed by the group.
“They work hard, they play hard. That’s really all you can ask out of freshmen, especially on Opening Day,” Marzilli said. “There are a lot of people there, and you really can’t feel much in your body.”
There also were junior-college newcomers with third baseman LB Dantzler and second baseman Chase Vergason. The infield had a few shaky moments in the early part of the game.
“It’s part of the process. We’ve just got to get them comfortable as quick as we can. They’ve got to play,” Tanner said. “There’s not going to be a Wingo, Mooney and Morales. They’re gone. Hopefully, today helped a little bit, but it’ll probably take a while to get them exactly where we need to be.”
Tanner expected some nervousness from the new guys.
“I had the butterflies and I’ve been doing it for a long time. We’ll be a little bit more relaxed (Saturday),” he said.
Short hops
Tanner noted that junior Dante Rosenberg may catch today with Greiner moving to designated hitter. … VMI broke out camouflage jerseys for the opener. … The Gamecocks improved to 15-1 on Opening Day in the Ray Tanner era, with the only loss coming to the College of Charleston in 1998.
