Will Tippett Emergence Comes In Pivotal Moment For Gamecocks

South Carolina's Baseball team has battled a gauntlet of injuries in recent weeks, and Will Tippett has begun to step up in a big way.

The past couple of months have been difficult for Mark Kingston and South Carolina's baseball team in terms of dealing with injuries. It started with second basemen Will McGillis, who had to exit the Missouri series back in late March after getting hit by a pitch that resulted in a broken bone in his wrist.

This was then followed up by third basemen Talmadge LeCroy and shortstop Braylen Wimmer suffering hamstring injuries just weeks apart from one another, a stretch that's also seen other infielders like Gavin Casas and Michael Braswell both have to play through injuries due to the thin depth the Gamecocks currently have. One player who's had to step up and see significant action is Will Tippett, a true freshman who's been touted by Mark Kingston before as someone who possesses an abundance of potential.

Tippett, however, has found out the hard way this season that life as an SEC hitter isn't as easy as it might have been in high school. In stretch of 8 games between March 25th and April 22nd, Tippett didn't record a single hit in 17 at-bats. This past Sunday, with the Gamecocks trying to salvage the final game of a forgettable three-game series against the Auburn Tigers, Tippett would break his hitless streak by crushing his first career home run to to left center field, which would give South Carolina a late lead they wouldn't relinquish.

In the Gamecocks' midweek game against Winthrop on Wednesday night, South Carolina tied at one a piece with the Eagles heading into the top of the seventh inning. With only a few outs remaining, Will Tippett would hit a solo homer as a part of a three home-run inning that put the Gamecocks ahead by four runs and helped secure a vital midweek victory.

Will's emergence is a testament to the hard work he's put in behind the scenes with Gamecock hitting coach Monte Lee, and with the Gamecocks likely to play without multiple key infield starters for the next couple of weeks, Tippett will continue to a player that South Carolina heavily relies on to come up big when his name is called.

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