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COMFORT ZONE How Andrew Eyster emerged as Gamecocks’ best hitter
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By Jeff Owens | Executive Editor • Photos by Allen Sharpe
ndrew Eyster was already a star when he arrived at South Carolina. After a stellar high school career, he was drafted in 2017 by the Arizona Diamondbacks. A year later, after hitting .412 with 13 home runs in junior college, he was drafted again. But like many star players, Eyster was in for a rude awakening when he joined one of the top college baseball programs in the country. “I didn’t have to prepare as much then as I do now,” the 6-3 outfielder from Ocala, Fla. said. “I
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would just go out there and have fun because I was pretty confident I would have a good day every day. It’s a lot different here. You have to prepare a lot more.” Eyster, one of head coach Mark Kingston’s prized recruits last year, flashed his enormous potential last fall, showing early on that he had the talent to hit major-college pitching and be a factor offensively for South Carolina. But there were still plenty of eye-opening moments, at-bats when he realized he was playing at a completely different level. “I got comfortable in the fall, but it definitely took a while,” he
said. “There were moments when I would see guys like [pitcher] Carmen [Mlodzinski] and I would see him throwing 95 and he throws one of those sliders and I thought I have no chance. But it’s all about getting reps and seeing the ball as many times as you can. Late in the fall was when I started getting comfortable.” Eyster continued his progression and by last spring was a fixture in South Carolina’s lineup, starting 47 of the 50 games he played and settling into the middle of the batting order. With veteran’s TJ Hopkins and Jacob Olson and fellow junior-college
transfer Luke Berryhill, Eyster helped give the Gamecocks a powerful lineup. He drove in a pair of runs on opening weekend, hit his first home run the following week and then had three hits and drove in three runs in a win over rival Clemson. Then came another eye-opening moment. South Carolina, which begins spring practice next week, opened SEC play last year by getting swept at home by Georgia and Eyster faced pitching like he had never seen before, like Bulldog ace Emerson Hancock, the No. 1 MLB prospect in the country entering this season. In the three-game series, Eyster was 2-for-13 with nine strikeouts. “That was pretty insane,” he said. “That was pretty overwhelming for a first weekend. I was definitely prepared, but seeing 98 coming in for the first time was pretty crazy.” But Eyster quickly made more adjustments and by the end of the season emerged as South Carolina’s best hitter, slashing .309/.389/.576 to lead the Gamecocks. He had 10 home runs, 12 doubles, 32 RBI and was eighth in the SEC in slugging. He caught fire at the end of the season, hitting .417 in his last 10 games with four home runs and 11 RBI. He had five hits against national champion Vanderbilt and six against No. 3 Mississippi State. On the final day of the regular season, he went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI to lead the Gamecocks to a win over Mississippi State that earned them a spot in the SEC Tournament. “He was clearly one of our better hitters by the end of the season … and one of the best in the SEC,” Kingston said. “What he did on the last day of the season versus Mississippi State speaks volumes of what he can do for us.” By the end of the season, Eyster was locked in and displaying the type of swing and potential that attracted the attention of professional scouts. “That was an incredible five weeks,” he said. “It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I was so confident in myself. I felt like I didn’t have to sit on a pitch, I felt like I could go out there and be ready and see what the pitcher
JANUARY 2020
