Paul Mainieri Encouraged By Tightly Contested Wins to Start South Carolina Baseball Season

South Carolina baseball coach Paul Mainieri | SEC

South Carolina head coach Paul Mainieri is encouraged by the early tough games for the Gamecocks.

While the South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team is undefeated, not every game has been pretty. The Gamecocks had a tight contest against Winthrop, which had some fans scratching their heads, despite a dominant season-opening series against Sacred Heart. To head coach Paul Mainieri, the close bout is no issue.. He embraces the scrappy wins and has done so for quite a while due to some wise words given by his father. 

“I remember my dad vividly saying to me on the phone, ‘Hey, don’t ever be upset about winning close games, because you’re better off having those kind of games, because your team will grow from it. “‘They’ll learn how to be composed and poised at the end of the game. Down the road when they need to win that close game against a really tough opponent, they’ll have been there and have done that, and that makes their confidence even that much better.'” 

South Carolina hasn’t been the only team to struggle with inferior opponents. The no. 8 Georgia Bulldogs lost on Sunday to UNC Wilmington and followed up the performance by completing a comeback down 4-0 in the 9th inning against Kennesaw State. Not every team can do what Tennessee has done against Hosfra and UNC Asheville, as they embarrassed both squads.

The Gamecocks look to head to 6-0 as they begin a weekend series against the Milwaukee Panthers 

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